Rescue workers from Bomba working in the operations room at Kampung Saai, Daro.
MUKAH: Family members of victims of the boat capsize at Kampung Kut are being updated on the results of the search for those still missing.
The rescue operations centre was set up in Kampung Saai, Daro.
Matu Daro police chief DSP Wagner Lisa Libut when contacted yesterday said rescue workers were using boats and helicopter in their search since 6am.
“The operation was carried out smoothly with the help of Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba), Civil Defence Department, Rela members and volunteers from Kampung Saai,” he said.
A family member of victim Zubir Abu Bakar, 31, said he had phoned his father around 7am before the incident.
His father told him he was attending a wedding ceremony and was switching off his phone.
“I tried to call him again but failed. Around 2pm, I was shocked to hear that the boat my father was on board had capsized,” he said.
Another man Hashim Kipli, 54, said one of the missing victims was his wife Kalsom Mat, 50.
He was in Kapit when the tragedy happened.
His wife had rung him around noon.
“When I called her at 1pm, the call went unanswered. At 2.15pm, I received a call from my child, telling me the boat the mother was travelling in had capsized.”
Hashim rushed to Kampung Saai from Kapit at 5.30pm and arrived there at 1.15am.
During low tide at around 2am, Hashim and the villagers walked along the river banks, looking for his missing wife.
Madihi Riji, 30, who works in Sibu said a day before the tragedy, he had a conversation over the phone with his father Riji Dalol, 60.