Five tourists and a member of the crew are still missing in the incident where a catamaran carrying 28 Chinese tourists and three crew capsized at about 10am on Saturday after being hit by strong winds and huge waves an hour after leaving the Tanjung Aru jetty here for Pulau Mengalum, a tourist attraction about 56km northwest of Kota Kinabalu.
20 tourists and two crew were rescued while three tourists were found dead following the mishap.
Chen said Chinese President Xi Jinping had expressed concern over the missing tourists and that he wanted her to cooperate with the Sabah and Malaysian governments in the search and rescue effort.
She spoke to reporters when approached at the Marine Police base here last night. Chen, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim, Sabah assistant minister of tourism, culture and environment Pang Yuk Ming and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency director-general Admiral Ahmad Puzi Ab Kahar were at the base yesterday to receive the survivors being brought ashore.
Chen said she was informed by the Malaysian authorities that more assets would be deployed in the search and the area of operation would be extended.
She also said that the families of the survivors would be informed once the necessary processes had been completed.
She said she was ready to facilitate and give assistance to the families of the victims if they wanted to come to Sabah.