MARUDI: A father and his four-year-old son have died after a boat carrying four villagers capsized in the Baram River while en route to a rural health clinic, with the man’s wife and the boatman still missing.
The victims, all from Kampung Long Selatong, were believed to have been travelling by boat to Long San Health Clinic on July 20 when their vessel allegedly capsized along the river.
When they failed to return home and could not be reached by phone, worried family members alerted the authorities.
Police received a report at around 11.20 am yesterday (July 21) after members of the public informed them via WhatsApp that the four villagers had been missing since the previous day.
Villagers later found the boat overturned in Sungai Seperot, prompting fears that its occupants had been swept away by the river.
The first victim to be recovered was four-year-old Jovian Jangin Joshua, whose body was found by villagers and taken to the Long San Health Clinic yesterday.
The Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) said firefighters from Marudi station set out for the remote location today (July 22), navigating logging roads for about five hours before arriving at the scene at 12.30 pm.
Before they reached the scene, villagers informed the team that the body of 38-year-old Joshua Uken Mathew was discovered on a riverbank at around 8.50am, about two hours away by boat from the suspected capsize site.
Firefighters used a boat belonging to villagers to recover the body before carrying it ashore on a stretcher.
The deceased was later identified by his family.
At the time of writing, the search is underway for the two remaining missing victims, identified as 43-year-old Ceria Dullah and 45-year-old Jonathan Nyurang Lusut.
