Dozens missing as boat sinks in Malaysia

A wooden boat carrying 97 people from Indonesia has sunk off the western coast of Malaysia and 66 of the passengers are missing, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency has said.

"This was an illegal boat and all the passengers were Indonesian," said Muhammad Zuri, a Malaysian maritime agency official.

Zuri said 31 passengers had been rescued.

The passengers included women and children and were suspected of trying to reach Malaysia illegally, a spokesman for the agency said.

The agency had sent one boat to the area to search for survivors and was sending two more.

Malaysia's New Straits Times said the boat sank around midnight on Tuesday about two
miles (3km) from the coastal town of Banting on the Strait of Malacca.