KUCHING: The bodies of all five regatta rowers, who went missing when the boat they were on capsized in Sungai Sarawak here on Friday, were found today (Oct 20).
A spokesman from the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department's operation centre said the bodies were found floating at the estuary of Sungai Sarawak this morning.
The spokesman said rescuers involved in the search operation found the bodies of two of the five victims near the Sungai Sarawak barrage at 6.16am.
"The third body was found at 6.40am, followed by the fourth victim, discovered by Sarawak Coastguard personnel about 30 minutes later.
"With the assistance of a police drone, rescuers located the fifth victim's body at 7.09am," he said.
The five participants were identified as Mohammad Ikhmal Sama'ail, 34; Majurie Maharuf, 32; Mohd Afiq Isyamudin Asaari, 26; Mohamad Khairul Bidin, 26 and Muhammad Khairul Hisham Kasturi, 23.
All of them were members of the Sarawak Security and Enforcement Unit team.
The spokesman said the bodies of all five victims were handed over to the police before being sent to the Sarawak General Hospital's forensic unit.
It was reported that the five victims went missing and feared drowned after the boat they were on with 10 others capsized in Sungai Sarawak near Royal Bay Commercial Centre, Jalan Buruh Bintawa here.
Ten participants managed to save themselves during the incident.
The rowers were undergoing training for the highlight of the Sarawak-Kuching 2024 Waterfront Regatta Festival, which will be held from Nov 1 to 3.
A Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department received a distress call on the incident at 4.20pm and a team was dispatched to conduct a search and rescue operation.