SEMPORNA: A boat with nine on board sprang a leak and almost sank off Pulau Sebangkat, on Saturday.
It was learnt that all nine men were returning home from fishing when their boat was hit by waves and leaked at 11.37am.
Six of them were forced to cling onto the boat to prevent the it from sinking while three others stayed on board to cover the leak using hands and clothes.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});Semporna Civil Defense Force Officer, Lieutenant (PA) Mohd Hasran Jaafar said they received a distress call following the incident through the MERS999 line and deployed four members to the scene in a boat.
“All the victims were rescued and transferred to the rescue boat before handed over to the police for further action,” he said.
According to Mohd Hasran, the operation was also assisted by police and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).
All the victims were taken to the Semporna District Operations Control Center (PKOD) at 2.15pm. No injury or casualty reported.