Labourer who jumped into sea to escape arrest feared drowned

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Fire and Rescue Department (foreground) staff and Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency personnel searching for the victim near the CIQ.

TAWAU: A man working as a labourer at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Centre was feared drowned after he jumped into the sea in a bid to escape from Immigration Department officers yesterday morning.

The man jumped together with more than ten labourers when they realised the immigration was checking and they hid behind a passenger ferry.

While the others surrendered themselves, the victim was seen struggling in the water near the fish market before he disappeared.

District Fire and Rescue Department station chief Rudy Fredzex said the department received a call at 11.44am and divers started to comb through the area at 12.30pm for the man.

He said a strong current made the search at the scene where the man was last spotted difficult.

Apart from the Fire and Rescue Department, Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency, Marine Police, Civil Defence Department and Police were involved in the search.