MERSING: It was a heart-wrenching scene when the search-and-rescue team brought Wong Han Wen's body back here, with all the flesh from his head gone.

Only the skull was left attached to the rest of the body which was still intact.

His family had to identify him from the grey shirt and blue jeans he had worn.

Han Wen's body was spotted floating at 11.15am about seven kilometres from Pulau Jahat by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency yesterday. The location was nine nautical miles from where the ferry tragedy took place last Saturday.

He was the second of three people listed as missing from the Seagull Express 2 which caught fire while en route to Pulau Tioman.

On Wednesday, the body of Wong Song Leng, 37, was retrieved from the sea about two nautical miles from Pulau Tokong Bahara.

This brings the official death count from the ferry tragedy to six.

Another person, Choong Yoong Kim, 43, is still missing.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency's Kuantan enforcement chief Capt (M) Tan Kok Kwee said its boat Kilat 34 spotted Han Wen??s body.

"We retrieved it from the sea and sent it here," he told reporters here yesterday.

He said the search-and-rescue mission, co-ordinated by the agency, would continue until the last missing person was found.

"We have deployed at least five big boats, seven small boats and a Cessna plane. More than 120 men are taking part in the mission.

"The team has stepped up operations to locate the third victim," he said.

Han Wen's sister Yuh Jen, 24, and Yuh Ling, 28, together with an uncle, had joined the search on a marine police vessel but returned an hour later.

They were then told that Han Wen's body had been recovered. They immediately broke down and Yuh Ling almost fainted.

Han Wen's father, Wong Yang Seng, 64, remained calm throughout.

Meanwhile, Song Leng's body was claimed by his wife Seng May Ying at the Mersing Hospital mortuary yesterday.

It was sent to Petaling Jaya for a memorial service.

Is this article useful to you?