KOTA KINABALU: Five people - two women and three children - drowned while two others are missing after a pump boat ferrying 20 people capsized during bad weather in waters off Semporna on Sabah's east coast.

       The victims, aged between one and 33 years old, were recovered immediately after the boat capsized off Pulau Timbun Mata about 4km from mainland Semporna late Thursday (April 14) night.

       Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) patrol boats are continuing to search for the two missing victims - a 14-year-old girl identified as Naranis and a six-year-old boy identified as Aiman.

       Semporna MMEA commander Norrimi Hassan said that 13 other passengers were rescued immediately after the incident.

       He added that the missing victims were both from Kampung Sungai Nakit near here.

       All passengers on the boat were believed to be locals and were heading from Kampung Bakung Bakung to Kampung Tandoan on Pulau Tandoan.

       He said initial investigations indicated that the boat could have been overloaded and was also affected by bad sea and weather conditions.

       He also said that the search-and-rescue operation was activated at 11.45pm Thursday after MMEA received a distress call on the incident.