Death toll in Malaysia migrant shipwreck rises to at least 21

Langkawi: Authorities in Malaysia and Thailand have recovered at least 21 bodies as they search for survivors after a boat carrying undocumented migra...

Langkawi: Authorities in Malaysia and Thailand have recovered at least 21 bodies as they search for survivors after a boat carrying undocumented migrants capsized, police and maritime officials said on Monday.

Officials said the boat was carrying about 70 migrants, many believed to be from Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya community trying to reach Malaysia, when it capsized near Thailand's Tarutao island four days ago.

They were believed to have been part of a larger group of some 300 people who were split between at least two boats, police said.

Tarutao is just north of Malaysia's island resort of Langkawi, where officials said search-and-rescue operations were being concentrated.

Romli Mustafa, director of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) in the northern states of Kedah and Perlis, said rescuers found five more bodies on Monday, without disclosing their nationality or ethnicity.