Eight RI migrants rescued

Eight RI migrants rescued

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysian police have found eight illegal Indonesian immigrants who survived a shipwreck which claimed at least eight lives, news reports said yesterday.

The survivors, who had no travel documents, told police they had not eaten anything for the last three days.

Their boat hit a coral reef near Tanjung Siang, 100 km off Malaysia's southern city of Johor Baru on Friday, the national Bernama news agency reported.

The boat, capable of carrying some 40 people, had left Tanjung Pinang in Indonesia's Riau Islands on Thursday and ran into a storm before hitting the coral reef off Tanjung Siang, Bernama said.

Police said they were searching for more survivors and victims. Eight bodies have been fished out of Johor waters since Saturday.