Death toll 20 in boat tragedy

Death toll 20 in boat tragedy

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysian authorities have so far recovered the bodies of 20 Indonesians who drowned after their boat capsized during a storm, police said on Wednesday.

Police found four bodies on Tuesday off the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, where their boat capsized on Saturday while trying to enter Malaysian waters illegally, a police spokesman said.

A total of five bodies were retrieved on Monday after the accident, which took place off Port Klang.

The boat, which was believed to be carrying more than 70 people when it capsized in stormy seas, left Sumatra in Indonesia the morning before the accident.

Police said it had detained 32 survivors. None had valid travel papers and would be deported.