Dozens missing after migrant boat sinks near Malaysia-Thailand border

Dozens of people are missing and one person died after a boat carrying migrants sank near the border between Thailand and Malaysia.

The Malaysian Coast Guard said it believed the ship capsized near the island of Ko Tarutao in southern Thailand on Thursday.

Ten people were rescued and a woman’s body was found floating in the sea.

Maritime officials believe the victims are part of a group of about 300 people who were traveling on a larger ship before splitting into smaller boats as they approached Malaysia.

Among those rescued near the Malaysian resort of Langkawi were three men from Myanmar, two Rohingya men and a man from Bangladesh, according to the Malaysian state agency Bernama, citing the police chief.

The report added that the body found in the water belonged to a Rohingya woman.

Efforts are underway to search for more survivors.

The mainly Muslim Rohingya minority have fled majority-Buddhist Myanmar in large numbers in recent years to escape persecution.

Conflict and conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh also continue to push vulnerable people onto overcrowded ships in search of a better life in Malaysia.

Officials say many of those fleeing would have paid more than $3,000 (£2,300) for passage.