7 Myanmar migrants dead, 13 rescued after boat carrying 300 capsizes near Malaysia

Rescuers in Malaysia recovered the bodies of seven migrants from Myanmar and found 13 alive from a boat that capsized with dozens aboard, officials said Sunday.

The vessel had departed from the town of Buthidaung, in Myanmar's Rakhine state, carrying some 300 people, said First Adm Romli Mustafa from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, citing a preliminary investigation.

Police and the maritime agency said the passengers were believed to have been split into three smaller boats once the vessel neared Malaysia. One of the boats was believed to have sank near Tarutao island in southern Thailand on Thursday, and some of the victims drifted into Malaysia's northern resort island of Langkawi, the authorities said.

The timing and exact location of the incident is not known. The fate of the other two boats is also unclear, officials said.

Local media quoted the Kedah state police chief in northern Malaysia, Adzli Abu Shah, as saying that some of those rescued were Rohingya Muslims, from Myanmar, where they have faced persecution for decades.

Romli warned in a statement that cross-border syndicates are becoming increasingly active in exploiting migrants using perilous sea routes.