Mersing ferry tragedy -- Oct 18th
update
MERSING: It was a heart-wrenching scene when the
search-and-rescue team brought Wong Han Wen's body back here, with
all the flesh from his head gone.
Only the skull was left
attached to the rest of the body which was still
intact.
His
family had to identify him from the grey shirt and blue jeans he
had worn.
Han Wen’s body was spotted
floating at 11.15am about seven kilometres from Pulau Jahat by the
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency yesterday. The location was
nine nautical miles from where the ferry tragedy took place last
Saturday.
He was the second of three
people listed as missing from the Seagull Express 2 which
caught fire while en route to Pulau Tioman.
On Wednesday, the body of
Wong Song Leng, 37, was retrieved from the sea about two nautical
miles from Pulau Tokong Bahara.
This brings the official
death count from the ferry tragedy to six.
Another person, Choong
Yoong Kim, 43, is still missing.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency’s Kuantan
enforcement chief Capt (M) Tan Kok Kwee said its boat Kilat
34 spotted Han Wen’s body.
“We retrieved it from the
sea and sent it here,” he told reporters here
yesterday.
He said the
search-and-rescue mission, co-ordinated by the agency, would
continue until the last missing person was found.
“We have deployed at least
five big boats, seven small boats and a Cessna plane. More than 120
men are taking part in the mission.
“The team has stepped up
operations to locate the third victim,” he said.
Han Wen’s sister Yuh Jen,
24, and Yuh Ling, 28, together with an uncle, had joined the search
on a marine police vessel but returned an hour
later.
They were then told that
Han Wen's body had been recovered. They immediately broke down and
Yuh Ling almost fainted.
Han Wen’s father, Wong
Yang Seng, 64, remained calm throughout.
Meanwhile, Song Leng's
body was claimed by his wife Seng May Ying at the Mersing Hospital
mortuary yesterday.
It was sent to Petaling
Jaya for a memorial service.
Wong
Yuh Ling (left) breaking down upon hearing that the body of her
brother Wong Han Wen, a victim of the Mersing ferry tragedy, had
been recovered. She had to be carried away by her uncle and a
volunteer from the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation. Another sister Wong
Yuh Jen also had to be helped away.
Seeking divine help: The family of
missing victim Choong Yoong Kim praying for his safey at Mersing
jetty.
