Reuters, Kuala Lumpur :
An overloaded wooden boat believed to be carrying dozens of Indonesian illegal immigrants sank off the coast of Malaysia on Thursday, killing at least 14 people, among them 13 women, maritime officials said.
The boat, which maritime officials estimated had about 70 people
aboard, had left Sabak Bernam in Malaysia’s western state of Selangor for Sumatra in neighbouring Indonesia when the accident happened.
Initial conversations with survivors led officials to believe the passengers were Indonesian, said Muhammad Aliyas Hamdan, an official of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).
“If they are legal, they would not leave (the country) that way,” Muhammad said, when asked if the people were illegal migrants. The boat sank due to overloading and bad weather, he added.
Thousands of migrants from Indonesia work at construction sites, on palm plantations, in factories and domestic service across Malaysia, some without legal employment documents.
The number of survivors stood at 19, the agency’s director of search and rescue operations, Captain Robert Teh Geok Chuan, told Reuters, including 15 rescued by fishermen earlier, though the death toll could rise.
“We fear the casualty numbers will rise as it’s been several hours since the boat sank,” he added.
An overloaded wooden boat believed to be carrying dozens of Indonesian illegal immigrants sank off the coast of Malaysia on Thursday, killing at least 14 people, among them 13 women, maritime officials said.
The boat, which maritime officials estimated had about 70 people
aboard, had left Sabak Bernam in Malaysia’s western state of Selangor for Sumatra in neighbouring Indonesia when the accident happened.
Initial conversations with survivors led officials to believe the passengers were Indonesian, said Muhammad Aliyas Hamdan, an official of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).
“If they are legal, they would not leave (the country) that way,” Muhammad said, when asked if the people were illegal migrants. The boat sank due to overloading and bad weather, he added.
Thousands of migrants from Indonesia work at construction sites, on palm plantations, in factories and domestic service across Malaysia, some without legal employment documents.
The number of survivors stood at 19, the agency’s director of search and rescue operations, Captain Robert Teh Geok Chuan, told Reuters, including 15 rescued by fishermen earlier, though the death toll could rise.
“We fear the casualty numbers will rise as it’s been several hours since the boat sank,” he added.
