bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Malaysian rescuers found a fourth body at sea Monday as authorities said they may soon end the search for 36 other Indonesians missing after their boat sank on the way home to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr.
The wooden boat was believed to be smuggling 44 people including women and children from Malaysia’s southern state of Johor to Indonesia’s Batam island. It sank in rough seas late on Thursday and four men were rescued the following day.
Asharudin Che Ami, an official with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, said authorities may call off the search on Tuesday after just one corpse was recovered early on Monday and three on Sunday.
“The body was found by a fishing vessel, and MMEA has recovered it. Chances of finding any survivors now are very slim,” he told AFP.
The boat capsized in high waves about 13 nautical miles off the coast with maritime authorities saying it was “not seaworthy”.
The passengers are believed to have been illegal migrants who came to Malaysia to work but wanted to return to their country to celebrate Thursday’s Eid ul-Fitr, the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, without passing border controls.
One of the survivors found on Friday said he paid some 1,300 ringgit ($400) for what was to be his first trip home in 13 years.
An estimated four million foreigners, mostly from poorer countries in the region such as Indonesia and Myanmar, work in Malaysia - many illegally. They fill low-paying jobs shunned by locals on plantations, construction sites and in factories.
In mid-July an Indonesian woman died and seven people went missing after their wooden boat capsized off Johor.
Twenty-seven Indonesians, heading to Batam without valid travel documents, were rescued.


Malaysian rescuers find fourth body at sea, 36 still missing

Maritime officials in Johor state transporting three victims found at sea. Photo: AFP

40 still missing from boat sinking off Malaysia

The survivors at a government office in Tanjung Sedili. Passengers on the boat are believed to have been illegal immigrants. Photo: AFP

Passengers who were rescued from an overturned boat show their burn wounds at the Maritime office in Tanjung Sedili, Johor, southern Malaysia on Saturday. Photo: AFP

News

Asia