Illegal entry turns fatal

Monday December 31, 2012

LANGKAWI: In a mass attempt at entering Malaysia illegally, 500 Myanmar nationals, some as young as seven, were forced to jump off a boat and swim 500m to the beach at Teluk Burau here – with painful consequences.

One Myanmar drowned while two others are in critical condition. Police found 449 people stranded on the beach yesterday, worn out from the long swim.
About 50 others were believed to have reached shore and gone into hiding.

Langkawi OCPD Supt Harrith Kam Abdullah said the drowned man’s body was found some 200m from the beach while the two others were found not far from him.
He said the injured were sent to the Langkawi Hospital for treatment.
“The incident occurred at 1.30pm, when the immigrants aged between seven and 50 were forced to swim to shore by the captain,” he said yesterday.

Supt Harrith Kam said investigations showed that the group travelled by boat for 15 days from their country before reaching Langkawi waters.
He said each of them was believed to have paid RM1,000 for the boat trip here.
Police are now looking for the immigrants who are believed to be hiding in the forest near the beach.

Supt Harrith Kam said those detained were taken to the Langkawi police headquarters.
Meanwhile, in Kuala Nerang, police found bodies of three Myanmar workers in a rubber estate in Kampung Chebar, Tanjung Piring near here.

Their bodies were found with slash wounds on their necks and heads.
Kedah CID chief Asst Comm Zakaria Ahmad said the men, from Arakan in Myanmar, worked as rubber tappers. He said their bodies were found after their friend lodged a report in Tanjung Piring at 1pm yesterday. No identification was found on the men, believed to be aged between 18 and 30.
“Investigations revealed that four men were attacked by a group of men armed with parang at 11pm on Dec 28,” he said.