Hundreds missing as boat sinks near Malaysia-Thailand border

Langkawi: Hundreds of people were missing after one of three boats carrying some 300 undocumented migrants capsized near the Malaysian-Thai border, Malaysian police said Sunday.

At least one woman drowned, and 10 people were rescued after the boat, which was carrying about 90 undocumented migrants, sank.

The vessel "is believed to have capsized" three days ago, Kedah police chief Adzli Abu Shah told local media.

What do we know about the incident?
Adzli added that two other boats carrying a similar number of passengers were also missing.

"So far, 11 people including one body have been found," Romli Mustafa, Kedah state maritime director said. More victims might still be found at sea, he warned.

The accident is believed to have happened near Tarutao Island, just north of the popular Malaysian resort island of Langkawi, the country's maritime authority said.

About 300 migrants left Buthidaung, Myanmar, aboard one large vessel, Romli said.

But as they approached the Malaysian coast, they were instructed to move to three smaller boats, each carrying about 100 people, to avoid detection by the authorities, Adzli was quoted as saying.

The other two boats have still not been located, and a search-and-rescue operation was ongoing, he said.

Among the survivors found in the waters off Langkawi were three Myanmar men, two Rohingya men and one Bangladeshi man. The body that was retrieved was that of a Rohingya woman, state media Bernama said, citing Adzli.

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 escape these conditions and head to relatively affluent, Muslim-majority nations of Malaysia and Indonesia.

However, the hazardous, illegal sea crossings in poorly equipped boats, facilitated by human trafficking syndicates, often lead to boats capsizing.