By Nancy Nais
LAWAS, Sept 13: The Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) has deployed its air unit to assist the search and rescue (SAR) operations for Mohd Amirul Bakar, who was reported missing while fishing with two other friends at sea, on Monday.
Led by their head of detachment for Miri air operations base Roslan Aziz, the 10-man crew left Labuan Air Force on a Mi-171 helicopter at 11.30am.
Faruk Arina Ahmad Sabri, 29, Yeu Chee Tiong, 30, and Amirul, 26, had embarked on a fishing trip to Pulau Sari. However, they were reported missing on the same evening after friends and family failed to contact them.
Yeu’s body was found at 8.35am the next day (Sept 10), in the vicinity of Sungai Labik-Labik, while Faruk’s body was found floating near Pulau Sari Besar at 11.05pm on the same day by villagers and volunteer firefighters from Kampung Punang.
“Our search this morning focused on two nautical miles from Kuala Lawas beach all the way to the northern border of Brunei. After one hour of searching, we did not discover any body,” Roslan said.
However, that was not their only task for the day.
After joining the SAR for Amirul, the crew continued their journey to Kampung Pemukat in Kuala Lawas to assist their comrades who are on the ground battling about 11.5 acres of peat and forest fire.
“First, we conducted aerial recon to identify source for water. Then we return to base to plan our strategies and then prepare for operations,” Roslan said.
However, before they could take off for the aerial water bombing to contain raging forest fire, the rain came pouring heavily, causing them to halt the operations.
Meanwhile, Bomba Sarawak has recorded 232 cases of forest, peat and bush fires since Sept 1, involving some 356 acres of land statewide. — DayakDaily
