Fourteen people are still missing after a boat carrying migrants capsized off Pangkor Island off Malaysia’s west coast. The country’s maritime authorities have so far rescued 23 people alive, the country’s maritime authority said.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said that a local fisherman spotted some people floating in the sea early on Monday and alerted authorities. A rescue operation was later launched.
Perak state MMEA director Mohammad Shukri Kutub said in a statement that initial investigations revealed that there were a total of 37 undocumented migrants on the boat. Of them, 23 have been rescued so far and the search for the remaining missing is ongoing.
He added that according to initial information, the migrants set off from the Kisaran area in Indonesia on May 9. Their destinations were various parts of Malaysia, including Penang, Terengganu, Selangor and the capital Kuala Lumpur.
The MMEA has deployed ships, helicopters and surveillance aircraft to search for the missing. The rescued people have been handed over to the police for further investigation.
Economically prosperous Malaysia is home to millions of migrants from poorer Asian countries. Many of them work in construction, agriculture and other sectors without documentation. However, these sea routes, operated by human trafficking rings, are often risky and accidents occur.
In November last year, another boat capsized off the Thai-Malaysian border, killing 36 migrants, in one of the worst accidents in recent times.
