The number of people confirmed dead after a boat carrying members of Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya community sank near the Thailand-Malaysia border rose to 11 on Monday, authorities said, with about 70 people believed to have been on board the capsized vessel.
The status of another boat carrying 230 passengers remained unclear, Malaysian authorities said, adding that 13 survivors had been found so far, mostly Rohingya. Thai authorities said they had recovered four bodies, including two children, adding to the seven found by Malaysia's maritime agency.
Facing violence at home in Myanmar and increasingly difficult living conditions in sprawling refugee camps in Bangladesh, Rohingya from both countries regularly attempt perilous journeys by sea, including to Malaysia and Indonesia.
Exodus of persecuted Rohingya
Myanmar's impoverished Rakhine state has suffered years of conflict, hunger and ethnic violence mostly targeting the Rohingya Muslim minority community.
Driven from Rakhine following a brutal 2017 military crackdown, about 1.3 million Rohingya live as refugees in Bangladesh.
At a press conference on the island of Langkawi, close to the search area, Malaysia's maritime agency said air assets were being deployed by both Thailand and Malaysia to search for survivors.
"We have got very good ... relations with the Thai agency so we have got good communication and exchanges of information," said Romli Mustafa, director of the maritime agency in Malaysia's Kedah and Perlis.
"It will be easier for us and our sea assets," he said of the use of air assets to support the search by boats, adding that the search operation could last seven days.
Romli said information received by the agency indicated a boat had departed Myanmar, near the border with Bangladesh, about two weeks ago, but some passengers had moved onto another vessel on Thursday. Of the 13 survivors, 11 were Rohingya and two from Bangladesh, he added.
Perilous voyages
More than 5,100 Rohingya have taken boats to leave Myanmar and Bangladesh between January and early November this year, with nearly 600 people reported dead or missing, according to data from the UN Refugee Agency.
An official from Thailand's maritime enforcement command centre told Reuters the four dead included two children, age 12 and over 10, and two adults.
"Two of the women were found carrying refugee cards identifying them as Rohingya," the official said.