LUNDU: The body of a 60-year-old man, feared drowned after falling from his boat while fishing alone, was discovered by villagers this morning (Dec 27).
The victim, identified as Jokepli Hamdi, had been reported missing on Dec 25 at Kampung Kelaoh, Sungai Batang Kayan here.
Lundu/Sematan Civil Defence Force (APM) district officer Lieutenant Rabuan Zulkeflee said the Search and Rescue (SAR) operations which entered its third day today started at 7 am, with the search efforts joined by the local villagers.
“The missing victim, feared drowned after falling from a boat was located by villagers at 8.27 am.
“The body was then brought to the jetty and handed over to the police for further action,” he said in a statement today.
Later, in a separate statement, the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) said the victim was found approximately 300 metres downstream from the Bomba Control Centre.
“After the body was inspected by the police, it was transported to Lundu Hospital for a post-mortem,” it said.
Earlier, the SAR team, involved multiple agencies, including the state’s APM, Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), Bomba, People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela), Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) as well as local villagers.
On the chronology of the case, Sarawak Bomba had received a distress call on the incident on Dec 25 at 8.20 am.
A witness near the scene reported seeing the victim, dressed in a light blue long-sleeved shirt and black tracksuit, fall into the river from his boat.
The victim called for help and attempted to swim towards the riverbank. The witness then quickly prepared a boat and tried to assist but lost sight of the victim due to the strong current.
