KUALA LUMPUR (DPA) — About 26 suspected illegal migrants were missing Thursday after the boat they were in capsized in southern Malaysian waters, a regional maritime official said.
A passing vessel rescued two people from the boat which sank off Tanjung Ketapang town in the state of Johor, according to Ibrahim Mohamed, a regional operations chief of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.
Another maritime official said the missing were Indonesian workers on their way to return to their home country in time for the end of the holy month of Ramadan next week.
"Last week we arrested over 100 migrants while attempting to return to Indonesia," the official said.
At least 27 undocumented Indonesians have died since last month in three boat accidents in Malaysian waters.
Indonesians comprise more than half of the estimated 1.5 million illegal workers in Malaysia.
