ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 22 Apr) – A seaweed farmer recovered in an island in Tawi-Tawi the remains of the missing suspect behind the April 11 killing of two people and wounding another aboard a Liberian cargo ship, officials said Tuesday.
Lieutenant Senior Grade (Lt.SG) Jimmy Berbo, Zamboanga Coast Guard station commander, said the remains of 37-year-old Wu Xiang Yong (not Whou Shang Yong as earlier reported), was found last April 14 floating at a seaweed farm in Tahaw Island, Languyan, Tawi-Tawi.
Berbo said that Jabira Sarapuddin, the seaweed farmer, buried the corpse at the shore of Tahaw Island. Wu’s body was reportedly already in an advanced state of decomposition.
The coast guard official said the identity of Wu was established through an identification card, which was recovered and turned over to the Languyan police.
Berbo said Wu, a mess boy, jumped overboard after he allegedly stabbed three crewmen of M/V Qing May last April 11 while at the Sulu Sea.
The 106,000 gross tonnage vessel was loaded with iron ore and en route to China coming from Australia when the incident occurred.
Two of the three victims – chief cook Zhang Wenju, 34, and marine engineer Xie Zhichao, 27 – were killed while Liao Shiguo, 48, an electrical engineer, was wounded. (They were identified in earlier report as Shan Weng Yhu, Sheishi Chao, and Liao Shie Ghou.)
The cargo ship skippered by Sheng Bo Wang made an emergency stopover last April 13 in this city and rushed Liao to the Zamboanga Brent Hospital. He is recuperating in the same hospital.
Supt. Felixberto Martinez, chief of the local police’s special investigation unit, said MV/ Qing May have already arrived in China, bringing along the remains of Zhang and Xie.
Martinez said they will request for exhumation of Wu’s remains to determine the cause of his death.