The moments leading up to the tragedy in Beladin, Sarawak in which nine members of a family drowned after their vehicle plunged into Sungai Batang Lupar has now been revealed by the Triso ferry captain
The captain, Kurni Denan, was being interviewed by Berita RTM when he recounted the tragedy and what really happened during it on Friday, 1 January at Triso wharf in Beladin, Betong Divison.
According to the ferry’s captain, at the time the heartbreaking tragedy occurred, he was adjusting the ferry to the deck at the slope and that there were no cars when he first looked.
“When I focused to align the ferry, I saw a Hilux had just arrived. I was surprised to see that the Hilux suddenly drove all the way down the ramp, without braking or stopping. I told my partner to check, asking him ‘what is that driver doing driving down?'” Kurni is heard saying during the interview.
Kurni says that he instructed his partner to check the Hilux as to why the vehicle went down when the ferry had not reached there yet
“I saw the Hilux come down, straight into the water,” he recounts to Berita RTM.
According to the captain, contrary to claims on social media that the ferry was full capacity and that the four-wheel-drive (4WD) was asked to reverse from the ferry, this wasn’t the case.
“Social media postings saying the ferry was there, full capacity so the Hilux was asked to reverse all that is NOT TRUE. I was the first to saw it happened,” he is heard saying in the video.
A clip, less than two-minute, from the Berita RTM interview, has since gone viral.
The captain says he is traumatised by the incident
“I am traumatised by this incident. Couldn’t even sleep. When I saw the Hilux go into the water, I didn’t even send the ferry passengers to the dock but went straight to try to save it, when the Hilux was still floating, I thought to use the ferry ramp to push it to the side,” he recounts during the interview.
“But the Hilux submerged. It was extremely sad, I cannot forget that I saw the hand at the last moment. Last night, couldn’t sleep because I kept seeing the image,” he says, according to a translation provided by a Twitter user, @bongkersz, who gave SAYS permission to use her tweets for this story.
“I was approaching the dock, about 40m from it I saw totally no car at the dock. When I focused to align the ferry, I saw a car just arrived.. then I was suprised to see suddenly the Hilux drove all the way down the ramp, without braking/stopping. I told my partner to check.. 1/n https://t.co/2Nvo7xaVjl
— TuanMasbro Bongkersz Haram Bae (@bongkersz) January 2, 2021
Watch the interview here:
Note: Fast forward to the 9-minute mark to see the captain’s interview.