KANOWIT, June 1 — A 32-year-old man is feared drowned after a boat carrying seven passengers capsized near SK Nanga Balang in Gaat, Kapit, this morning.

The victim, identified as Spielberg Dylan Sekunyir, was reported missing following the incident, while six other passengers managed to reach safety.

According to the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba), an emergency call regarding the incident was received at 9.28am.

A spokesperson for the department said firefighters from the Kapit Fire and Rescue Station (BBP Kapit) were dispatched to the scene after first proceeding to the Kapit police station to obtain information on the incident.

“The boat was reported to have capsized with seven people on board. Six passengers were rescued safely, while one male passenger, aged 32, remains missing and has yet to be found,” the spokesperson said.

A team comprising three firefighters travelled to the location in a Bomba utility vehicle.

As of the latest update, the victim had not been located and search efforts were being coordinated. — The Borneo Post

KUCHING, June 15 — AirBorneo has clarified that it has not submitted an application for a direct Kuching-Bangkok service and that no such route has been formally confirmed at this stage.

The clarification comes following reports by Thailand’s The Nation that the Sarawak-owned airline had been allocated airport slots for a proposed Kuching-Suvarnabhumi route during the Winter 2026/2027 scheduling season.

In a statement issued to The Borneo Post, AirBorneo said while destinations across the region form part of its longer-term network planning, no application has been submitted for the recently mentioned Bangkok route.

“We appreciate and are thankful for the strong public interest in AirBorneo’s network expansion plans, and we can confirm that destinations across the region are part of our longer-term route planning.

“However, we wish to clarify that no application has been submitted for the recently mentioned Bangkok route at this stage, as nothing has been formally confirmed,” the airline said.

AirBorneo added that any future international service would be subject to the usual regulatory and approval processes before any announcement is made.

“As with any new international service, any future route would need to go through the standard regulatory and approval processes before it can be announced.

“We would caution against treating any specific route, frequency, or schedule as confirmed until that process is complete,” it said.

AirBorneo also stressed that its immediate focus remains on strengthening its existing operations following service disruptions earlier this month.

“Our current priority remains stabilising and strengthening our current intra-Borneo operations following the service disruptions earlier this month, which are now well into recovery.

“We are committed to getting the fundamentals right for our existing routes first,” it said.

The airline added that any confirmed network expansion plans would be announced through its official channels at the appropriate time.

The Nation, one of Bangkok’s English-language dailies, cited the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) as saying that AirBorneo had been allocated airport slots to operate 14 weekly flights on the Kuching-Suvarnabhumi-Kuching route during the Winter 2026/2027 schedule. — The Borneo Post

KUCHING, June 1 — A man was seriously injured in a road accident involving a sedan in front of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Sematan yesterday afternoon.

The Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Operations Centre said the injured man was the driver of the vehicle involved in the accident.

“The incident was reported at 1.22pm. The male driver was not trapped but sustained serious injuries, while a female passenger also suffered injuries.

“Both victims had been extricated by members of the public before firefighters arrived at the scene,” it said in a statement.

The statement added that the Bomba operations team placed the injured driver on a stretcher before handing him over to Ministry of Health (MOH) personnel for further treatment.

The female passenger also received medical attention following the incident. — The Borneo Post

KUCHING, June 13 — A toddler aged around three-years-old was found alone and crying for help by the roadside in Taman Berlian, Kota Samarahan.

See Hua News Daily reported that the girl was discovered at around 2am today by some college students who were having their late-night meal at a coffeeshop in the area.

The child has since been taken to Samarahan police station before being sent to the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) emergency unit for a medical check-up. She is currently under observation.

Samarahan district police acting chief DSP Barry William has confirmed the incident, saying that an investigation has been launched to determine how the girl ended up by the main road.

The authorities have also identified the child’s family members, and inquiries are ongoing.

At about 2.10am, the female college student had just finished her late-night meal at a café in the Taman Berlian residential area.

While she and a friend were riding a motorcycle home, they noticed a small child gesturing to them from the side of the road.

Unsure whether what they had seen was actually a child, they turned back to check and confirmed it was a young girl holding a feeding bottle.

The girl was crying for her mother and was carrying a blue towel and a small beaded basket. — The Borneo Post