The capsized ferry after colliding with a barge off Semporna on Wednesday night.
SEMPORNA: The Sabah Marine Department has set up an investigation team to investigate the ferry-barge collision in the waters of Labuan Haji about 0.25 nautical miles from the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine jetty here Wednesday night.
Its director, Abdul Nasar Abdul Hadi, said the team would look into various aspects and collect information from all the quarters involved in the incident.
“We have also received a report from the ferry operator and some of the investigation team members are already at the scene to carry out the task.
“We will investigate the cause of accident and collect all information from the captains of the ferry and the barge. However, at present, the barge could not be located,” he told Bernama yesterday.
In the 8pm incident, the passenger ferry, MV Zuhairi, with 160 Malaysian and Filipino passengers on board was reported to have collided with a lightless barge while heading to Semporna from Bongau Tawi-Tawi Islands in southern Philippines. All passengers, including 10 children were rescued.
In Kota Kinabalu, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the findings from the investigations carried out by all the relevant quarters on the ferry-barge collision would be announced after they were all completed.
“Right now, it is still being investigated. We will inform you once we have full report on the findings from all the relevant quarters, including the police,” he told reporters after launching the Sabah Youth Index 2015 here.
Musa said, right now, the priority was to provide aid and assistance to the victims, especially those injured. One of the ferry passengers, Nordiana Ayub, 23, said she was traumatised by the incident and would not take another ferry ride for the time being.
The woman, who sustained injury in her left arm, was taken to Semporna Hospital and received out-patient treatment.
Another passenger, Norain Abd Naip, 39, who sustained bruises on the face and was given medical treatment at the same hospital, said she was grateful that there was no fatality in the incident, thanks to the quick response from the authorities.
Meanwhile, Senalang assemblyman Datuk Seri Nasir Sakaran said all ferry and boat operators should give priority to safety aspect to ensure that such incident would not recur.
“The incident occurred at night and I was made to understand that the boat was lightless and that had caused the collision.
“Safety aspects like having appropriate number of functional lights on ferry or boats should not be taken lightly,” he said. — Bernama