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2 crew from Malaysian boat carrying 31 Chinese reach safety
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A Malaysian ethnic Chinese woman offers prayers under the traditional Chinese lanterns on display ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations at a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Jan. 15. The Lunar New Year which falls on Jan. 28 this year marks the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese calendar. (AP/Vincent Thian)
T
he captain and a crew member from a missing Malaysian boat made it to safety Sunday while others among the 31 people on board, including 28 Chinese tourists, on the boat may be drifting in the water waiting to be rescued, authorities said.
Malaysian navy chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin tweeted Sunday evening that some victims had been found but gave no details.
Several Malaysian navy and police ships and at least one plane were searching for the boat, according to a statement from the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency.
A maritime official said the rescuers were being hindered by high winds and choppy waters. The search area is about 400 square nautical miles (nearly 1,400 square kilometers) of the South China Sea.
The captain and a crew member were found Sunday afternoon in the waters between the island of Pulau Tiga and an offshore oil drilling platform, Malaysia's The Star Online reported. The boat had left Kota Kinabalu in Sabah state on Saturday morning on its way to Pulau Mengalum, an island about 60 kilometers (38 miles) west.
The Chinese consulate in Kota Kinabalu said multiple survivors "were reported drifting at sea waiting for rescue," the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Chinese state television said the crew reported helping passengers put on life jackets as the boat was sinking, then tried to look for help.
Malaysia deployed search and rescue ships and helicopters after receiving a call Saturday night about the boat's disappearance, Xinhua reported.
Arwin Musbir, the captain of another boat that left for Pulau Mengalum at the same time, told the New Straits Times newspaper that he was following the missing boat but lost sight of it shortly after they left. He said he realized it had gone missing only after he arrived at the island.
The maritime agency official said 28 Chinese passengers and three crew were on board. The official declined to be named because he isn't authorized to speak to the media.
Many Chinese travel abroad during the Lunar New Year holiday, which began Saturday.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a tweet Sunday afternoon that he was monitoring developments in the search.
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Associated Press writer Nomaan Merchant in Beijing contributed to this report. (**)
