SANDAKAN: Six Filipinos rescued by Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) after their boat capsized three days ago, were handed back to the Philippine authorities in the Malaysia-Philippine border waters on Tuesday.
MMEA Sandakan zone director Kapten Maritim Muhamad Suhairy Hussain revealed MMEA Sandakan received a report from Sandakan Port Control and Taganak Port Control regarding the incident outside the Sandakan port limits at 7.30 pm on Sunday.
“Upon receiving the information, a rescue operation was immediately launched by deploying the HALILINTAR 4 boat to the location. At 9:00 pm, the HALILINTAR 4 boat successfully rescued six victims, consisting of five adults and one child aged between 11 and 45, all of whom are Filipino citizens,” he said.
The victims were brought to the Sandakan MMEA Jetty at 11:30 pm for medical attention and further action.
Following bilateral discussions, MMEA collaborated with the Philippine authorities, including the Philippine Coast Guard and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO), to hand over the victims in the border waters, accompanied by assets from both countries.
The handover of the victims was carried out at 10:30 am on Tuesday at the Malaysia-Philippine border, witnessed by vice mayor Suraida Ibnusali. All victims were in good condition and received by the Philippine authorities.
MMEA remains committed to ensuring maritime safety and urges coastal communities and seafarers to exercise caution during bad weather and to always heed warnings issued by the Meteorological Department.
In an unrelated development, fire damaged the living room of a house in Taman Fajar Perdana 8 km from the Sandakan Fire and Rescue Station on Tuesday.
Firefighters rushed to the scene to extinguish the blaze on being alerted through MERS 999 at 5.16 pm. No one was home at the time of the incident.
Meanwhile, strong wind damaged the roofs of three house at Jambatan 4 and Jambatan 5 in Kampung Sim-Sim water village at 3.30 pm on Monday.
No casualties were reported in the incident. Civil Defence Force personnel inspected the affected houses after being notified at 4.15 pm. – James Leong
