STORIES TO TELL: (From left) Ikam, Galong and Ipoh narrate their experience at the Kapit SRB office.
RECORDING STATEMENT: A SRB officer records statement from passengers arriving on board the barge at Belaga Wharf in Kapit.
KAPIT: The first two batches of survivors of the express boat ‘Kawan Mas’ that sank at Tanjong Kokok, Bungan Giam, about an hour downstream of Belaga Bazaar about 9am Tuesday arrived here late in the afternoon.
The first batch of 11 passengers arrived at 5.30pm on board a barge (Bintang Warisan) while another batch comprising three passengers arrived by speedboat belonging to Tuai Rumah Bujah at 6.30pm.
One of the three passengers was 44-year-old Ikam Kanyan from Sungai Asap Resettlement Scheme. He was a tractor operator working with WTK Logging Camp in Bakun. Another was Galong Sanidom, 43, of Rumah Melintang, Sungai Kapit, a colleague of Ikam, also a tractor operator. Another survivor is identified as 61-year-old Ipoh Bangsa from Rumah John, Nanga Benin. He is a truck driver with WTK O’carina Development Camp in Bakun.
Galong and Ipoh were on their way home to celebrate Gawai.
They were sitting on the roof of the express boat.
Galong said they left Bakun at 5.30am on board ‘Kawan Mas’, arrived in Belaga at 7.30am and left again for Kapit at 8am. The express boat capsized at 8.45am at Tanjong Kokok.
“We managed to swim to safety but our belongings and our money are all gone,” Galong said when met at the wharf here.
Jantan Budin, 55, from Rumah Nyawai, Mujong, Baleh River was among 11 passengers in the first batch, who were picked up by a passing tongkang ‘Bintang Warisan’. He is a lorry driver with a logging company belonging to Shin Yang.
Another victim identified as 30-year-old Tingi Baja from Rumah Lubang, Sungai Mujong, Baleh River is also a lorry driver with Sinyang Logging Camp. He said he was sitting inside the express boat when the accident happened.
“The boat was packed to capacity. Everybody panicked when they realized the express boat was sinking.”
Meanwhile, Sarawak Rivers Board has set up two counters at Belaga Wharf and Kapit Terminal to record the victims ’statement and to determine the total number of passengers on board the boat before it went down.
According to Belaga police chief, DSP Bakar, the express boat had the capacity to carry 75 passengers but believed that there were 204 passengers on board when it sank.