Two Singaporeans,  62-year-old Tan Eng Soon and 57-year-old Puah Geok Tin were reported missing on August 9, 2019 while on a kayaking trip with 13 other Singaporeans in Mersing, Johor, Malaysia.

Kayak discovered, no sign of duo

It is understood that they started the kayaking activity from the jetty at 10 am.

At around 5:40 pm, the pair was separated from the group while they were in between Pulau Sri Buat, Pahang and Pulau Mertang in Endau waters, due to the turbulent sea and strong winds.

According to a Facebook update by Shin Min Daily News on Aug 13, the kayak belonging to the duo washed ashore in Kuantan, where it was discovered by a fisherman.

Sadly, there is still no sign of the missing Singaporeans.

A phone and PAssion card belonging to Tan was also discovered on the kayak.

As the phone still had battery left, the fisherman sent a message to Tan's family group chat on WhatsApp.

According to The Straits Times, the family has since informed the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).

ST adds that the Kuantan coastline where the kayak was found sits more than 200km away from Mersing, Johor, where the pair had started their journey.

Search continues

Previously, Puah's son and niece spoke out on having more measures to be done to help locate her such as speeding up the process, though they understood that the search operation also fell on the Hari Raya Haji holiday.

A search and rescue mission involving personnel from the Endau Police Station, the Marine Operations Force, Civil Defence Department and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency was mounted at Penyabong jetty at about 3:30 pm on Aug. 9.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has sent a team from the Consulate-General in Johor Bahru to assist in ongoing search operations.

Consular assistance is also being rendered to the next-of-kin of the missing Singaporeans.

ST also reports that Malaysian authorities have deployed more aircraft and almost doubled the size of the search area to about 900 square nautical miles, or 3,000 sq km.

The search area is currently between the east and north of Pulau Tioman in Pahang.

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