KUCHING: Profound grief overwhelmed a teacher from SMK Senibong following the tragic loss of three of her students in a boat capsizing incident at Batang Kayan, Kampung Selampit in Lundu.
On Tuesday (Aug 20), the three students were missing after a boat they were on capsized while crossing Sungai Kayan in Kampung Selampit, Lundu.
According to the Borneo Post, Shasha Denzlin shared a poignant moment when the class representative approached her with a question about Vilkie Wilson's name on the attendance list.
Vilkie, along with Heleana Fasha Petrus, 17, and Alasma Jitwil, 14, were the students who died in the tragedy.
"The class rep asked: 'Teacher, should we put Vilkie's name as 'absent' or how?'
"The whole class burst in tears," she recalled in a Facebook post.
Shasha, who taught Heleana the previous year, expressed how deeply she was affected by Heleana's passing.
She remembered Heleana as playful but diligent, committed to completing her homework.
"Then, the intelligent and happy-go-lucky Alasma, a Draco athlete and my choral speaking (student). She's always the chatter.
"When I sent her home, she said that she wanted to further her studies just like her brother and sister; she wanted to enter a Science school… maybe during Form 4.
"Words couldn't describe anything. Rest well, angels," she wrote.
The boat carrying Vilkie, Heleana, and Alasma also carried 17 other passengers, 13 of which were students.
The tragedy occurred at about 6.10am on their way to school.
Search and Rescue (SAR) operations were conducted by Fire and Rescue Department personnel, as well as the police, marine police, Civil Defence Department, Sarawak Rivers Board and villagers of Kampung Selampit.
Vilkie's body was the first to be found yesterday (Aug 21) while the last, that of Alasma, was found earlier this morning.