ASAJAYA: The body of an unidentified man, believed to be the last missing victim of the Tanjung Sipang fishing boat capsizing, was recovered from a mangrove swamp in Kampung Sampun Tebun at 11 am today (Dec 31).
The Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) said the body was retrieved without clothes and with a fractured left leg.
The operation was hampered by heavy rain and high tide.
At 2.30 pm, the rescue team arrived at the Kampung Sampun Tebun fisherman jetty with the body and handed it over to the police.
The operation was subsequently called off at 2.31 pm.
The identity of the deceased remains unknown.
On Monday, authorities resumed the search and rescue (SAR) operation for 64-year-old Chaloem Sonada, the Thai skipper of the ill-fated vessel, following new leads suggesting he may have ended up in Sungai Sampun.
The operation, which was suspended on Dec 27 after five days yielded no results, was refocused based on reports from local fishermen that a body was found at the Sungai Sampun estuary on Sunday.
On Dec 17, a fishing boat carrying six crew members – three Cambodians, two Indonesians and one Thai national – departed Tanjung Bako jetty at 7 pm.
Around 8 pm on Dec 19, the crew reported to the boat’s owner that water had entered the engine room due to a leak.
Efforts to pump out the water failed when the pump engine malfunctioned.
By 2 am on Dec 20, all six crew members donned life jackets and jumped into the rough sea.
Five crew members were later rescued, leaving Chaloem unaccounted for.
