KOTA KINABALU: Police arrested the owner and manager of the company that owns the catamaran that capsized while ferrying 27 Chinese tourists to Pulau Mengalum from the Tanjung Aru jetty last Saturday.
This followed the arrest of the skipper and boat man who have been rescued and they, along with the boat owner, are being remanded until February 2 to help in the investigation into the mishap.
Sabah Commissioner of Police Datuk Ramli Din said the 44-year-old local manager was detained in the city at 4pm yesterday and would be remanded to facilitate investigation.
“The skipper and the boat man were arrested yesterday and are being remanded for four days. The boat owner will be remanded tomorrow,” he said at a press conference here yesterday.
“We are investigating the case from all angles; whether or not the boat operator had heeded all safety regulations or if negligence was involved, including capacity of passengers, safety equipment, etc,” he said, adding that the police were investigating the case under Section 304 A of the Penal Code for causing death by negligence.
“We will leave no stone unturned and will look at every angle… Whether the boat has followed the procedures to take tourists, whether they were given safety attire, whether the jetty they used was legal, whether the passenger load was accurate, how long they have been in business, and others.”
Ramli said early information showed that there was a possibility that not all procedures and requirements were followed or met, hence the arrests.
“We are also looking into why they lodged report so late. We could’ve started search and rescue operations much sooner but was informed late,” he said.
Ramli said three teams had been set up with regard to the incident.
One team would probe a report of sudden death, the second would act as a liaison body with one police officer to handle the welfare of one victim and the third was a special team under the Sabah Police Criminal Investigation Department to probe any element of negligence that could have led to deaths, under Section 304A of the Penal Code, he said.
The boat carrying 27 tourists and three crew men left a jetty in Tanjung Aru at about 9am and was due to arrive at Mengalum island, some two hours away but hit bad weather some eight nautical miles before its destination.
The owner reportedly only informed authorities at about 9.50pm.
Twenty tourists were rescued, three were found dead and four are missing.
Ramli said the actual number of people still missing in the catamaran-capsize incident is five, and not six as reported earlier.
He said investigations revealed that one of those listed in the list of those still missing did not board the boat on Saturday.
“Instead of 28, as earlier reported, there were only 27 Chinese tourists who boarded the boat on Saturday.
“The 33-year-old who was going to join the trip with his family cancelled the plan after seeing that the boat was fully occupied,” he said.
The man was identified as Lee Kun, who was earlier listed as one of those still missing.
Therefore, added Ramli, there were only four tourists still unaccounted for and one boat crew member.
Search and rescue operations are now searching for four Chinese tourists — Sheng Jiang Jiang (male, 50), Dong Mei, (female, no age given), Luo Hong Yuan (male, 51), Lu Gua Hang (male, 25) — and one local boat man Abhsoy Kassim, 25.
Twenty tourists and two crew were rescued in the waters of Semarang near Labuan and three tourists were found dead.
On the three dead tourists, Ramli said post-mortem had been conducted on two of the bodies.
The 20 surviving Chinese nationals escaped the tragedy with minor injuries.
Ramli said 12 of them received the ‘green zone’ treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s emergency and trauma unit while the other eight who suffered more serious injuries such as burns and had trouble walking, were treated in the ‘yellow zone’.
“Most of them are fine except for exhaustion,” he said.