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Malay Mail
07-07-2025
- Malay Mail
All 10 bodies recovered in Sarawak's Belawai boat tragedy
MUKAH, July 7 — The bodies of the final five victims from the boat tragedy off the coast of Pantai Belawai near Kampung Belawai were recovered this morning, bringing the total death toll to 10. A spokesperson from the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department's (JBPM) operations centre said all five victims were adult males, discovered by members of the public and rescue teams on the third day of the search and rescue operation. Three bodies identified as Asbar, Resky Adrian and Muhammad were found in the Muara Belawai area by civilians early this morning. 'Meanwhile, Rabanai Rabai's body was also recovered by members of the public at 7.50am in the Simpang Sungai Pinang area,' the spokesperson said in a statement. The fifth body, identified as Ardy, was found at 8.30am in the Muara Sungai Selumit area by the Sarawak Coast Guard based in Tanjung Manis. The fibreglass boat carrying 17 Indonesian passengers from the Kampung Belawai fishermen's jetty to the Zion Pelita Coconut Plantation jetty capsized around 2.11pm on July 5. Seven people, comprising four adult men, two adult women, and a young boy, survived the tragedy. The deceased include two adult women, five adult men, two boys, and one girl. Today's search and rescue operation began early in the morning, focusing on a three-kilometre radius around the river mouth and surrounding waters where the boat capsized. The operation, led by the Sarawak JBPM, was conducted in collaboration with the Royal Malaysia Police, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Civil Defence Force, Sarawak Security and Enforcement Unit and community volunteers. — Bernama
Arab News
01-07-2025
- Arab News
Pakistan arrests alleged land route agent linked to deadly Morocco boat tragedy
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Tuesday announced it had arrested an agent involved in the Morocco boat tragedy, in which dozens of Pakistanis attempting to travel illegally to Europe had drowned near the African country's coast earlier this year. The boat had set off from Mauritania in January with 86 migrants on board, among them 66 Pakistanis, for the Canary Islands administered by Spain, international rights group Walking Borders had said. Moroccan authorities said on January 16 that 36 people were rescued from the vessel, while Pakistan confirmed survivors of the tragedy included 22 of its nationals. Pakistani authorities have launched a crackdown against agents involved in illegally sending impoverished migrants through dangerous sea routes by offering them a chance at a better life in Europe. The FIA said its Faisalabad chapter arrested Ghulam Mustafa, a land route agent who was wanted for his involvement in the Morocco boat tragedy. 'Since 2023, the suspect had been working as a land route agent to send people to Europe via the maritime route through Morocco,' the FIA said in a press release. It said Mustafa was part of the same network of human smugglers Abdul Ghaffar and Muhammad Sarfaraz, who were arrested by the FIA in February, for smuggling the migrants on the same boat that met an accident near Morocco. The FIA said Mustafa, Ghaffar and Sarfraz were in contact with notorious African human smuggler Abubakar. 'The suspects were involved in extorting millions of rupees from Pakistani citizens under the pretext of sending them to Spain,' the statement said. 'They were found to be facilitating the illegal transport of citizens to Spain via sea routes.' A record 10,457 migrants, or 30 people a day, died trying to reach Spain in 2024. Most of them died while attempting to cross the Atlantic route from West African countries such as Mauritania and Senegal to the Canary Islands, according to Walking Borders. In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek town of Pylos, marking one of the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea. The Pakistani government has ramped up efforts in recent months to combat human smugglers facilitating dangerous journeys for illegal immigrants to Europe, resulting in several arrests. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also urged increased collaboration with international agencies like Interpol to ensure swift action against human trafficking networks.
Free Malaysia Today
07-06-2025
- Free Malaysia Today
Everything happened so fast, says boat capsize survivor
Workers lifting up the wreckage of the boat which overturned in the waters of Tanjung Harapan, Selangor, yesterday. (Bernama pic) KLANG : Everything happened very fast, boat tragedy survivor Chang Yan Qin Alvin, 17, said today after being rescued from a boat which capsized and sank off Tanjung Harapan yesterday. Two people and a toddler died in the incident, while a couple is still missing. Chang, one of six people who survived, said the tragedy occurred when the boat made a U-turn about 30 minutes after departing from the Royal Selangor Yacht Club dock. 'The incident happened very quickly when the relatively fast-moving boat suddenly overturned, and in less than 10 seconds, water had entered all compartments of the boat,' he told reporters at the Selangor maritime agency office today. 'The situation inside the boat became chaotic, but I saved myself by trying to swim before managing to sit on top of the overturned boat.' Chang said he could only scream for help after realising other passengers were not visible and after about five minutes of holding on to the boat, fishermen in another boat approached and rescued him. They contacted the authorities for assistance. 'I understand that this was the second test run for the boat, and before this, the boat was found to be in overall good condition,' he said. Family members saying prayers for victims of the boat capsize in Tanjung Harapan. A toddler and two people died, while a married couple is missing. (Bernama pic) The tragedy took place at about 5pm yesterday. The missing victims have been identified as Gan Hon Tat, 32, and his wife, Careen Man, 29, both from Klang Utama. Their three-year-old son, Darren, was among the three found dead in the front compartment of the boat, alongside family friends Cheu Son Hin, 50, and Fong Yong Sen, 29, also from Klang Utama. Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency operations officer Syafiq Sazali said the boat was partially refloated at 2.20pm today, after which the team began pumping out the water. Missing victims 'swept away' The fire and rescue department has not ruled out the possibility that two missing victims were swept away by currents while the boat was being towed to the Selangor maritime jetty. Port Klang fire and rescue chief Haikal Jammy Ngali said the capsized boat was towed by a public boat for about 500m before a distress call was received at around 5pm. He said the department also did not rule out the possibility that the victims, a married couple, were thrown overboard during the capsize. Klang Utara police chief S Vijaya Rao said the police had not found any clues regarding the two missing victims even though the search radius covered an area of five nautical miles. He said all the victims were believed not to be wearing life jackets, which made the search and rescue effort more difficult. He said initial investigations also revealed that the boat, which was being test-driven, was operated by its owner at the time.
CTV News
23-05-2025
- CTV News
UN refugee agency fears more than 400 fleeing Rohingya died this month in separate boat incidents
A Rohingya refugee who has not been identified due to safety concerns, talks to The Associated Press in New Delhi, India, about how his family was deported to an island in Myanmar, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) GENEVA — The U.N. refugee agency said Friday it fears that 427 Rohingya fleeing Myanmar and a refugee camp in Bangladesh may have died at sea this month. UNHCR said it has collected reports from family members and others of two separate boat tragedies off the coast of Myanmar in May. It acknowledged that details remained unclear but that enough information has been collected and verified to bring the incidents to light publicly. About 1 million Rohingya, who are predominantly Muslim, are in camps in Bangladesh after leaving Myanmar. They include about 740,000 who fled a brutal 'clearance campaign' in 2017 by Myanmar's security forces, who were accused of committing mass rapes and killings. A first boat that left from a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, and traveled to Rakhine State in neighboring Myanmar to pick up more people sank on May 9, with only 66 survivors among a total of 267 people on board, UNHCR said. The Geneva-based agency said reports indicated a second boat with 247 people on board that made a similar journey capsized a day later, with only 21 survivors. 'Reports have been coming in and it has been very hard to confirm what has happened, but the fear is that this number of people may have lost their lives at sea in the region,' said UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch. 'Before these two tragedies, some 30 Rohingya were reported to have died or gone missing in boat journeys in 2025,' he said. 'So if confirmed, this is a huge jump.' Thousands of Rohingya each year attempt to cross the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, and often the fates of those who have gone missing go unexplained. Even when officials knew the boats' locations, maritime authorities to rescue some of them have gone ignored, UNHCR has said. A total of 657 people died or went missing in the regional waters in more than 150 boat journeys by fleeing Rohingya last year, UNHCR said. The recent monsoon season brought perilous maritime conditions including strong winds, rain and rough seas, UNHCR said, adding that it was investigating reports about the fate of a third boat carrying 188 Rohingya that left Myanmar on May 14. Many Rohingya have fled by sea to Indonesia, which has reported an increase in the number of Rohingya refugees in recent months.
The Sun
19-05-2025
- General
- The Sun
Tragedy as migrant dies after ‘overloaded' boat tried crossing channel with mum and child among 62 pulled from water
A MIGRANT has tragically died after a small boat sank while trying to cross the Channel overnight. The Maritime Prefect of the Channel and the North Sea said 62 people were pulled from the water after the 'overloaded' boat broke up. The French assistance and rescue intervention tug (RIAS) Abeille Normandie recovered 50 people, while the RNLI recovered two people and the Border Force Ranger nine people. All those rescued were transferred to the Abeille. A French Navy helicopter assisting in the search spotted an unconscious person in the water, French authorities said. They were pulled from the water by the RNLI crews but declared dead by the medical team on board the French tug. Among the survivors was a child and his mother who were suffering hypothermia and airlifted to hospital in Boulogne-sur-Mer. The others were dropped off at Boulogne-sur-Mer quay and taken care of by the land rescue services. The French coastguard warned of the dangers of crossing the Channel, saying the stretch of water is one of the busiest in the world, with more than 600 merchant ships passing through every day. More than 12,000 people have already made the journey this year, putting 2025 on course to be a record year for crossings. A UK Government spokesman said: 'We can confirm there has been a tragic incident in the Channel involving a small boat in French waters which has resulted in the loss of one life. 'This latest tragedy underlines the terrible dangers of small boat crossings, and we continue to do everything we can to prevent callous criminals exploiting vulnerable people. Our thoughts are with those affected.' The death is the 10th fatality in the Channel so far this year. 1
