KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia — Three passengers of a small speedboat carrying 11 people believed to be Malaysians have died while the vessel drifted in the Sulawesi Sea for eight days, after it got lost due to a compass failure and ran out of fuel trying to reach Tawi-Tawi in the Philippines.
- The eight others were rescued at about 10am today by fishing vessels and brought to Tolitoli in Central Sulawesi, said Ilham, secretary of Ogotua Mukim, as quoted by Antara news agency.
- He said skipper Sapil Mahmud, 40, had identified the dead as Rosida, in her 30s, her two-year-old son Arisman and 16-month-old boy Jonathan. Sapil said the boat was headed from Lahad Datu in Sabah to Tawi-Tawi when the mishap occurred.
- According to Ilham the skipper had tried in vain for four hours to search for the direction to Tawi-Tawi after the compass failed, before the boat ran out of fuel.
- Ilham said the woman and the boys succumbed to starvation and the heat.
- The bodies have been brought to the Ogotua community health centre in Tolitoli Utara and is expected to be buried later today, he said, adding that the other passengers had also been brought there for treatment.
- Ilham said the survivors were Abd Siman Abbani, 34; Hiya Jaini, 40; Naslin, six; Rosima, three; Ronal Karsa, 39; Jonathan’s father (unidentified); Ema Karsa (Jonathan’s mother); and Jonathan’s sister, Jasmin Roy, five.
- “They are under treatment and the important thing is to make sure their condition is stable,” he said.
- Meanwhile, three fishermen from Lingayan, an island off Tolitoli, who had stumbled upon the drifting boat gave their statements at the Tolitoli Utara police station.
- Charge d’affaires at the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta, Amran Mohamed Zain, when contacted, said the mission was getting more information and would send assistance if they were confirmed to be Malaysians. — Antara
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