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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian authorities have recovered at least seven bodies after a boat carrying migrants capsized near the Thai border, a maritime agency official said on Sunday.
Officials believe the boat was carrying undocumented migrants who departed from Myanmar, part of a group of at least 300 people that had split between several vessels.
The boat that capsized near Thailand’s Tarutao Island and just north of Malaysia’s island resort of Langkawi was carrying some 90 people, Kedah state police chief Adzli Abu Shah told Malaysian media.
Romli Mustafa, director of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency in the northern states of Kedah and Perlis, said in a statement that three survivors were found on Sunday in the waters around Langkawi as well as six bodies, taking the overall death toll to seven.
At least 13 people have been rescued alive.
Romli said the bodies recovered Sunday were of a girl and five women, without disclosing their nationality or ethnicity.
A body found on Saturday is believed to be of a woman from Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya minority, Adzli told the Bernama national news agency.
The search and rescue effort ended for the day and will resume on Monday, Romli added, saying it was possible more survivors or victims could be found at sea.
The boat likely went down three days ago, according to the state police chief.
Two other vessels, believed to be carrying some of the group of 300 migrants who had departed from Myanmar, have also been reported missing, Adzli was quoted as saying by the Free Malaysia Today news website.
He said preliminary investigations showed that the group boarded a large vessel that carried them into waters close to Malaysia.
“As they neared the border they were instructed to transfer onto three smaller boats, each carrying around 100 people,” he told Bernama.
“We have requested the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and the Marine Police to launch search and rescue operations and to look for the other missing boats,” Adzli said, quoted by the New Straits Times.
The Malaysian police force did not respond to AFP’s requests for comment.
Relatively affluent Malaysia is home to millions of migrants from poorer parts of Asia, many of them undocumented, working in industries including construction and agriculture.
But the crossings, facilitated by human trafficking syndicates, are often hazardous, leading to boats capsizing.
“Cross-border syndicates are now increasingly active in exploiting migrants by making them victims of human trafficking using high-risk sea routes,” Romli said.
Syndicates charge up to $3,500 per person for passage into the country, Malaysian media said.
In one of the worst months, in December 2021, more than 20 migrants drowned in several incidents off the Malaysian coast.