KUALA LUMPUR – Dozens of people are missing and one person has died after a boat carrying migrants sank near the border between Thailand and Malaysia.
The vessel is believed to have capsized near the southern Thai island of Ko Tarutao, the Malaysian Coast Guard said.
Ten people have been rescued and the body of a woman was found floating in the sea.
Maritime officials believe the victims are part of a group of about 300 people who had been travelling on a larger vessel before splitting onto small boats as they approached Malaysia.
Those rescued near the Malaysian resort of Langkawi include three Myanmar men, two Rohingya men and one Bangladeshi man, according Malaysia’s state-run agency Bernama quoting a police chief.
The body found in the water was that of a Rohingya woman, the report added.
Efforts to look for more survivors are under way.
The mostly-Muslim Rohinga community has fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar in huge number in recent years to escape persecution.
Conflict and conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh have also continued to push vulnerable people onto overcrowded vessels as they seek a better life in Malaysia.
Officials say many of those fleeing would have paid more than $3,000 for passage. (BBC)
