Hundreds of people were missing after one of three boats carrying about 300 undocumented migrants capsized near the Malaysian-Thai border, Malaysian police said on Sunday.
At least one woman drowned and 10 people were rescued after the boat, which was carrying about 90 undocumented migrants, capsized.
“It is believed that the ship capsized three days ago,” Kedah police chief Adzali Abu Shah told local media.
What do we know about the incident?
Adzali said two other boats carrying a similar number of passengers were also missing.
“So far, 11 people, including one body, have been found,” said Kedah state maritime director Romli Mustapha. He warned that more victims could still be found at sea.
The country’s maritime authority said the accident was believed to have occurred near Tarutao Island, north of the popular Malaysian resort island of Langkawi.
Romley said about 300 migrants left Buthidaung, Myanmar, aboard a large ship.
But as they approached the Malaysian coast, they were instructed to get into three small boats, each carrying about 100 people, to avoid detection by authorities, Edzali was quoted as saying.
The other two boats have still not been located and search and rescue operations are underway, he said.
Who was traveling on the migrant boats?
The survivors in the waters off Langkawi were three Myanmar men, two Rohingya men and a Bangladeshi man. State media Bernama quoted Edzali as saying that the body recovered was that of a Rohingya woman.
Facing genocide and persecution in Myanmar, millions of members of the stateless, mostly Muslim ethnic Rohingya minority have fled across the border to Bangladesh, where many live in overcrowded camps.
Many Rohingya try to flee these conditions and head to Malaysia and Indonesia, relatively prosperous, Muslim-majority countries.
However, the dangerous, illegal maritime transit in poorly equipped boats operated by human trafficking syndicates often leads to capsizing.
Edited by: Carl Sexton