SEARCH and rescue operations to locate two policemen and timber camp workers missing in Sungai Baleh in central Sarawak have intensified with SAR personnel facing dangerous whirlpools and turbulent currents.
Latest updates today from the agencies involved in the SAR indicated that searches have widened to five km from the site where the boat capsized around 6pm on Thursday.
Apart from the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department, the police, the Sarawak Rivers Board, camp workers and villagers are also involved.
Updates from the search units said that the river is very turbulent and there are whirlpools.
The boat capsized after being hit by the current and entrapped by whirlpools, the villagers told SAR personnel.
Kapit district police chief Rohana Nanu yesterday identified the missing policemen as Constable Iskandar Ibrahim and Sergeant Jonathan Lambert.
"They were escorting explosive materials to a timber camp with the civilian timber workers for a road construction project.
"The police are also involved in the search now," she had said in a statement.
Villagers who witnessed the incident along the river banks said the boat capsized while it was crossing the river.
They jumped into the river and managed to save the boat driver who was later identified as Moses Ngui.
The four, who include the camp workers, Amerson John and Jack Balan were swept away by the strong waves. - The Vibes, March 9, 2024
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