2 Vietnamese nationals from Malaysia rescued at sea off Zamboanga City

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga del Sur — A Vietnamese national and his 3-year-old daughter jumped off the commercial boat they were on Sunday, reportedly to avoid being deported.

Police Colonel Alexander Lorenzo, city police director, said Nguyen Thanh Truc, 37, and his daughter Nguyen Ngan Ha, were aboard MV Aleson Antonia 1 that arrived Sunday in this city from Sandakan, Malaysia.

Lorenzo said the two Vietnamese nationals boarded the boat on March 14 but upon reaching this city, Truc feared they would be deported when immigration officers started inspecting documents.

The Vietnamese national admitted that he and his daughter were traveling with incomplete documents and upon reaching Santa Cruz Island, he decided to jump to the sea, tugging along with him his daughter, Lorenzo said.

Both were fished out at 6:20 a.m., March 19, from the waters between Barangay Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz Island in this city

After their rescue, the father and daughter were sent to the Zamboanga City Medical Center for treatment and turned over to the Bureau of Immigration for disposition.

Truc said they were residents of Ho Chi Minh but did not mention why they left for Zamboanga City, Lorenzo said.

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