Omar
KOTA KINABALU: Police have not ruled out the possibility of murder in the death of a dive instructor and two Chinese tourists who were killed by a fish bomb while scuba-diving at Kulapuan Island in Semporna on July 5.
State Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah said police were investigating the case from all angles, including the possibility of murder.
“We are looking at this case from all angles.
“Based on our investigation, no one has actually heard or seen anything just prior to the incident,” he said yesterday.
Local dive instructor Ab Zainal Abdu, 30, and Zhao Zhong and Xu Yingjie, both 26, were killed after they were believed hit by a fish bomb while scuba-diving at Kulapuan Island in Semporna on July 5.
They were dropped off by their boatman at a dive site at Kulapuan Island in Semporna around 2.30pm.
It was learned that Ab Zainal then told the boatman to go back to the jetty, which was about 100 meters from the dive site, to take a couple more dive tanks.
About an hour later, the boatman and the boat guide returned to the dive site only to find sea foam around the area while the three divers were nowhere to be found.
The boatman immediately radioed for help, prompting a search operation by several professional divers.
The bodies of Ab Zainal, Zhao and Xu were recovered by divers at a depth of 5.8 metres by 4.50pm, and most of their dive equipment were damaged.
Omar said investigation at the dive site found several damaged corals as well as dead fish, believed due to fish bombing activity.
Police have since detained the 24-year-old boatman and the 23-year-old guide, who are both related to Ab Zainal, to assist police investigation.
A post-mortem on the three victims will be conducted today at Tawau Hospital.
Omar said the victims’ families from China have arrived in Tawau to identify the bodies.
Meanwhile, he said 10 fishermen had been arrested by the Marine Operation Force (MOF) for documentation purposes.
“MOF has conducted checks on 95 fishing boats and nabbed 10 fishermen for failure to provide any valid documents,” he said, adding that the arrested fishermen had been handed over to the Semporna police for further investigation.
Omar said the operation was also aimed at searching for suspects involved in the fish bombing incident that killed the two Chinese tourists and diving instructor in the area last Friday.
He said the operation carried out by the Marine Police Force was done in the eastern waters of Sabah and also included the waters of Kunak and Lahad Datu districts.
“The 10 people detained have no identification documents and have been handed over to Semporna district police for further investigation.
“Investigations were done to find out if they were involved in fish bombing activities,” he said.