The search and rescue operation for victims of a boat that capsized off Pulau Nunuyan near Sandakan will resume at 7am tomorrow with another four people still missing since the incident at 6pm on Thursday.

According to a statement by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), the search operation involving personnel from the navy, Marine Police and the Malaysian Civil Defence Force was halted at 6pm this evening.

So far, two bodies, namely that of a seven-year-old boy known as Kamir Herman, which was found at 4pm yesterday, and another of a woman, aged 42, believed to be one of the victims have been found.

The woman is yet to be identified.

The search operation was activated at about 2pm yesterday after three men and two women who were drifting for 18 hours at sea after the incident, were rescued by the navy at noon yesterday.

The boat, carrying 10 passengers and a skipper, was believed to be from Taganak Island in the Philippines and on its way to Sandakan when it capsized.

- Bernama