KUCHING: The search for missing student Kho Ying Qi will continue for the foreseeable future to give her family closure in the tragedy, says district police chief ACP Mun Kock Keong.
“We will not stop the search operation anytime soon because we want to give closure to the Kho family by locating her,” said Mun, when asked to comment yesterday on rumours that rescuers were planning to halt their week-long operation.
According to him again, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) had now joined the Marine police, Fire and Rescue Services Department and Civil Defence Department in trying to find the missing 19-year-old.
The MMEA, he added, would be focusing on the Kuching Waterfront, the barrage and Muara Tebas areas in case the body had been swept out there.
Mun said the unpredictable weather condition had also made it difficult for the search personnel to carry out their duties, with the near-daily heavy downpour often forcing them to postpone the operation.
“It has already been a week since she went missing, and we should all pray on behalf of her family that we can find her soon.”
Kho, an Upper 6 student of SMK Batu Lintang, was swept away last Thursday after falling into a swollen monsoon drain at Rock Road during flash floods.
The body of Herman Sihas, the petrol station worker who jumped into the drain in a failed bid to save the student, was found last Saturday.