KOTA TINGGI: The search and rescue (SAR) operation to find the remaining victims of the boat tragedy at Tanjung Balau, here, will cease and be continued on a normal day-to-day basis.

       The operation that started on Wednesday was led by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) together with other agencies such as the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM), Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN), the police, marine police, fire and rescue department, civil defence force and the Health Ministry.

       According to Johor MMEA deputy director (operations) Maritime Capt Simon Templer Lo Tusa, the operation ended at 6pm yesterday because no new leads had been discovered and the chances of finding any survivors was very slim.

       “The decision was made after considering that there have been no new findings and that running an operation without any leads will be less effective,” he said in a statement.He added that the tragedy involved a total of 50 victims, with 21 recorded deaths, 13 survivors, and 16 others still missing.

       The five-day operation involved 203 personnel and officers from various agencies, with 10 sea and aerial assets.

       “The search operations have covered a total of 292 nautical sq miles (540km) of sea search and 126 nautical sq miles (233km) of aerial search.

       “And the land search involved 35km along the shoreline from Tanjung Balau towards Pengerang,” he added.