Hundreds of people are missing after a migrant boat capsized near the maritime border between Thailand and Malaysia, Malaysian authorities announced Sunday. Ten survivors and one body have been recovered, while the search continues in the Langkawi region.
According to First Admiral Romli Mustafa, director of the Malaysian Maritime Safety Agency for the states of Kedah and Perlis, the vessel was carrying approximately 300 passengers and had departed from Buthidaung, Myanmar, three days earlier. The boat reportedly sank as it approached the Malaysian coast.
Among the survivors are three Burmese nationals, two Rohingya men, and a Bangladeshi man. The body recovered is that of a Rohingya woman, according to Kedah police quoted by the Bernama news agency.
The passengers were mostly members of the Rohingya minority, persecuted in Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship and regularly subjected to violence. Fleeing the repressive conditions in Rakhine State, many attempt to reach Malaysia by sea, risking their lives.
Investigators indicated that the migrants initially traveled on a large vessel before being transferred to three smaller boats, each carrying approximately 100 people, in order to evade coast guard surveillance. The fate of the other two boats remains unknown.
A large-scale search and rescue operation, involving maritime patrol boats and helicopters, is still underway in the border area.
