KUALA LUMPUR: The death toll has risen to 12, while a total of 13 people have been rescued after a boat carrying undocumented migrants sank in waters near the Malaysia-Thailand maritime border last week, authorities said on Tuesday.

Another five bodies were found over the course of Monday in the waters of Kedah state, including one child, two men and two women, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Director for Kedah and Perlis states Romli Mustafa said in a statement.

He said that search operations had been suspended at 7:30 p.m. local time due to bad weather and had resumed on Tuesday morning.

This year alone, two cases involving a total of 436 migrants arrested in the waters around Langkawi, a key tourist destination in Kedah state, have been recorded. Romli said Langkawi’s location, being only 2.5 nautical miles from the Thai border, made it a preferred landing point.

“They are not coming to Langkawi to remain here but will be taken to other parts of the country,” he said.

He added that maritime migrant entry attempts largely depend on weather conditions. “Therefore, most cases occur at the end and beginning of the year,” he said.

Meanwhile, the MMEA said a total of 1,333 illegal immigrants attempting to enter the country via the same area have been intercepted since 2020.

During the same period, 24 captains and crew members were also detained for facilitating these attempts.- Xinhua