Authorities in Malaysia have confirmed that 14 people are missing after a boat carrying illegal migrants sank off the country's west coast on Monday, May 11.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said it received an alert from a local fisherman who claimed to have found people floating in the water off Pangkor Island in Perak State.
The MMEA then deployed boats, a helicopter, and a fixed-wing aircraft to the area to conduct search and rescue (SAR) operations.
An official said that the migrant boat was carrying 37 people but only 23 of them have been safely rescued. The survivors have since been handed over to local police for processing.
SAR assets will continue to attempt to locate the boat's 14 missing occupants.
Mohamad Shukri Khotob, MMEA Perak Director, said an initial investigation revealed that the boat had departed from Kisaran in Indonesia's North Sumatra Province on Saturday, May 9, and that the migrants had planned to enter Malaysia illegally via various destinations including Selangor, Penang and Kuala Lumpur.