Boat Tragedy: Missing Victim Joked She Would 'go First' - Mother

CHUKAI, Aug 12 (Bernama) -- A seemingly dry humour turned out to be ominous as Aina Husna Mohamad Husaini suddenly went missing after a fishing boat with nine people on board sank in Kemaman waters here yesterday morning.

Her mother Haziyah Harun, 63, who survived the capsize with four others, said Aina Husna, 25, joked that she might be the first in the family to die following the death of a male cousin in a road accident in Damansara, Selangor, last month.

“I didn’t expect what she said would happen. And this is the first loss in our family,” Haziyah told reporters at the Kemaman zone office of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) search and rescue forward base here today.

Aina Husna from Selayang, Selangor, and Yusof Kassam, 66, from Raub, Pahang, are still missing following a collision between a barge and the fishing boat they were on to jig for squid and fish in the waters of Kemaman at about 6.30 am yesterday.

The incident also claimed two lives, namely  Siti Zamimah Mohman Zobini, 29, and assistant skipper Shahril Ismail, 50.

Besides Haziyah, Aina Husna’s sister Ain Farhana, 30, the boat skipper Saipul Ridzuan Osman, 50, Rosnawi Harun, 50, and Mat Ali Alahan, 66, also survived the tragedy.

Haziyah said it was her daughters’ first experience of squid jigging, adding that Ain Farhana was asleep in the cabin while she and Aina Husna were outside when the boat was hit.

“The crash happened in the blink of an eye. After it was hit, the situation immediately became chaotic.

“I saw my daughter thrown (overboard), as well as bags and items on the boat. Soon, the boat overturned, hitting my head,” she said, adding that by that time, her daughters were already out of sight.

“My screams for them went unanswered,” said Haziyah, who was rescued by a nearby fisherman. Haziyah is still clinging to hope that Aina Husna will be found safe.

Today’s second day of search and rescue operation involved 25 personnel from MMEA, police, and the Navy scanning three search sectors at sea, with the air search being executed by MMEA and the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM).

-- BERNAMA