March 14,2016
By Olivia Miwil
Pictures by Lano Lan
TUARAN: A group of friends' journey to attend a henna ceremony on the occasion of their colleague's wedding on Saturday turned tragic.
A collision between two boats which then capsized, saw six people drowned in the incident.
Prior to the collision at about 1030pm, survivor Dewi Ratna Sari Dirman, 25, said the group of 21 friends who work at a textile shop at Alamesra Kota Kinabalu had waited 20 minutes for the boat at Kg Penimbawan.
The journey from Kg Penimbawan to their friend’s house at Kg Serusup is about eight minutes by boat.
“It was dark as the boat was not equipped with lights, not long after that there was a collision and the boat capsized.
“I remember clearly everyone was shouting for help, and saw one of us was already dead before villagers came to rescue us,” she said when met at Tuaran hospital ward here yesterday.
She did not expect her roommate Nurul Hazda Hussin, 20, to drown in the incident.
Earlier, Hazda said she wanted to cancel the plan as the boat trip was late but the group persuaded her to follow.
Hazda’s elder sister Nurul Huda, who claimed the body at the hospital, said the deceased managed to visit her family in Sandakan last week and had traditional cake known as “Buras” baked by her mother.
“If Hazda told me earlier, I would have stopped Hazda from attending the wedding as she could not swim.
“Hazda had also stated her plan to pursue a degree in Sport Science at Universiti Malaysia Sabah in June,” she said, adding the last time they met was on Wednesday.
Meanwhile another survivor from the other boat, Rashidah Abu Zarim said she remembered drowning and rescued by someone else.
“I thought I was going to die at the incident but fortunately villagers had helped and sent us to hospital.
March 15, 2016
Boatmen in collision incident to be questioned.
TUARAN: The investigation into the boat collision at Kampung Serusup here that killed six people including a child on Saturday, continues.
Acting district police chief Assistant Superintendent Raji Hussin Suhodin said they would look into all possible angles on the case.
“We will record statement from both boatmen, aged 32 and 39, in near future as they are now still being treated at Tuaran hospital.
“The case would likely to be investigated under Section 282 of the Penal Code for ferrying person by water for hire in unsafe or overloaded vessel,” he added.
Drowned victims were identified as 36-year-old Salumah Maid and Nurqaseh Salim, 5 from Papar, Aziah Maidin 23, Ainol Hahnam, 30 from Semporna and Nurul Hazda Hussin, 20 from Sandakan and Wong Vun Chong, 47 from Inanam.
Raji added those boats were routinely used to ferry villagers from two villages located about two kilometres apart or eight minutes of boat ride.
Both villages are far from the town but the place has two primary schools namely the SK Penimbawan and SK Serusup.
The collision was attributed to the pitch black night and that no lights were installed in the two vessels coming from opposite directions of the river.
Passengers of both boats were overloaded and there were no life jackets in the vessels.
Incident occurred when the first boat with 20 passengers was travelling from Kampung Serusup jetty to Kampung Penimbawan to attend a wedding.
It collided with the other boat ferrying 10 passengers and heading for Serusup at about 1030pm.
Meanwhile, Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan in a statement conveyed his condolences to the families involved.
Rahman, who is also Kota Belud MP, advises boat operators especially from Kampung Serusup to take initiative to prioritise safety aspect for the benefits of villagers.
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