The body of a male ferry passenger feared drowned after falling into the sea while travelling from Butterworth heading to George Town yesterday was found by fishermen today.
The body of Tham Kok Keong, 47, was found floating at about 10.40am at the Persiaran Gurney, about 4.8 kilometres from where he was reported to have fallen, said Seberang Perai Utara district police chief ACP Noorzainy Mohd Nor.
“The preliminary identification based on the identity card found that the victim was the male passenger believed to have fallen into the sea while on board the Kapas ferry in the 6.15pm incident yesterday,” he said.
He said the victim’s body was taken to the Sultan Abdul Halim terminal here before being sent to the Seberang Jaya Hospital for post-mortem.
He said the information obtained thus far found the victim was a father of two and worked as a logistics agent manager in George Town.
A check by a ferry staff at the lower deck of the ferry yesterday revealed that a Honda City car was left without a driver or passenger. The vehicle was registered in the name of a woman, Lye Ah Yin, 73, whose address was in Permatang Pauh.
A search and rescue operation for the victim was carried out by the marine police, fire and rescue department and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) until 8pm last night before it was called off due to the dark weather and the operation continued at 8am today.