One person was killed after two passenger boats collided off the coast of Sabah state in Malaysia on Friday, January 9.
The deceased victim has been identified as a 24-year-old crewman of one of the vessels involved in the collision that occurred approximately 500 metres off the town of Semporna in eastern Sabah at around 08:00 local time on Friday.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) launched a search and rescue operation shortly after learning about the incident.
Both of the occupants of one boat and four of the five people who were on the other boat were eventually rescued while the latter vessel's fifth occupant was initially declared missing. This individual was already deceased by the time eyewitnesses found him floating in the waters off Semporna on Sunday, January 11.
Rescuers said they located the crewman around three nautical miles southeast of where he was last sighted on Friday.
The other four people who were on the same boat as the deceased crewman suffered injuries from the collision and are being treated in hospital. The two people who were on the other boat were unharmed.
The MMEA said that the deceased victim's identity has been confirmed by family members who were present during the recovery of the remains on Sunday.