Four anglers rescued after boat capsizes off Pulau Manukan

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MMEA photo shows the anglers being rescued near Pulau Manukan.

KOTA KINABALU (Dec 16): Four anglers were rescued after their boat capsized off Pulau Manukan yesterday.

Azmain Nulhassan, 23; Al Asim Nasir, 23; Mohammad Fikhri Amri, 22; and Muhammad Aqil Abu Bakar, 22; were fishing off the island when their boat hit a rock due to choppy seas.

In a statement today, Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director for Sabah and Labuan, First Admiral Datuk Mohd Rosli Abdullah said the Maritime Rescue Sub Centre in Kota Kinabalu received a distress call from one of the victims at 11.20am and immediately deployed a team to their location, at 0.03 nautical miles off Pulau Manukan.

“Our team reached the victims’ location at 12.50pm and a rescue operation was carried out,” said Mohd Rosli.

According to reports, the boat carrying the anglers had hit a large rock and started to take in water.

As water started to fill the boat, the four men quickly donned their life jackets.

As the boat sanked, they managed to swim to shore and held tightly onto rocks before one of them called for help.

Mohd Rosli said the four men only sustained minor cuts and bruises and were taken to the Jesselton Point jetty.

He added the four men managed to prevent an untoward incident because they had their life jackets on and called the emergency contact number.

Mohd Rosli reminded the public to always wear life jackets and to be alert to the current weather conditions before going out to sea.