DUNGUN: Four fishermen went missing while another managed to escape when a fibreglass boat they were in capsized near the Kuala Dungun estuary last night.
Mohd Shazrin Yacob, 33, who swam ashore to save himself said the boat was hit by strong waves as they were entering the estuary on the way to the Kuala Dungun jetty at about 10am.
The five of them were crew members of a Marang based fishing vessel that was anchored 400m from the jetty at the time.
“We were trying to enter the estuary using the fibreglass boat and the water level was shallow. The boat capsized some 100m from where the fishing vessel was anchored,” he said.
“When I swam towards the shore, I could still see them clinging on to the boat,” Shazrin said adding by the time he reached the jetty he could not see the four who were identified by their first names, Nazri, Pok, Wahab and Apandi.
Dungun Fire and Rescue station chief Amri Mohamad said the station received a distress call at 10.05pm and seven firemen were immedietly deployed to the scene.
Amri said initial investigation showed that the fibre boat was hit by strong waves about 300 metres away from the jetty. Search and rescue operations has been launched.