CHUKAI: A survivor of a boat capsize incident said he used all his strength to hold on to a victim's body to prevent from drifting away when the boat they were on was struck by a barge in Kuala Kemaman waters.
"I used all my strength to hold onto the victim to ensure the body didn't slip away," said Rosnawi Harun, 50, one of the survivors of the incident yesterday.
Those who died were Siti Zamimah Mohman Zobini, 29, and Shahril Ismail, 50, who were found at 7am and 1pm respectively, after the 6.30am incident.
Two victims who are still missing are Yusoff Kassam, 66, and Aina Husna Mohamad Husani, 25.
Five survivors include Rosnawi; boat skipper Saipul Ridzuan Osman, 50, Mat Ali Alahan, 66, Haziah Harun, 63 and Ain Farhana Mohamad Husani, 30.
Rosnawi said he, along with his sister Haziah and two nieces, Ain and Aina, joined the fishing and squid jigging trip.
He said during the incident, he was asleep, and the impact from the collision caused them to be thrown into sea.
"In the chaos, the five of us clung to two fish barrels and managed to pull Siti Zamimah, who was still alive at that time," he said.
He added that he could only ask everyone to stay calm and hold tightly onto the barrels to avoid drifting away.
"I exerted all my strength to hold onto Siti Zamimah with one hand. I used the other hand to hold on to the fish barrel and continuously recited prayers for her, but she passed away half an hour later," he said.
He was only thinking of survival given the large waves and their own exhaustion.
"We all kept praying non-stop, and after two hours of fighting for our lives, our prayers were answered when a fishing boat happened to pass by and managed to rescue us," he said, noting that he had planned the fishing trip three months ago.
It was reported that a second body from the fishing boat tragedy was found in the afternoon.
The victim, identified as Shahril Ismail, 50, was found floating in the water around 1pm.
Kemaman police chief Superintendent Hanyan Ramlan had said Shahril's body was retrieved and taken to a search-and rescue operation control post at 2.45pm.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency deployed an aircraft in the search-and-rescue operation to locate the three anglers in waters off Kuala Kemaman.
Kemaman Maritime Zone director Commander Ariffin Ghazali said the fishing boat carrying nine people, including the skipper, capsized after being struck by the barge.