An overloaded boat carrying 97 Indonesians sank as it was leaving Malaysia's west coast early Wednesday, resulting in three drowning and at least 34 being reported as missing.

Search-and-rescue teams were able to locate 60 passengers and recover the three bodies, but were on the look-out throughout the night in hopes of finding the other missing individuals.

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As the boat was reportedly carrying illegal immigrants bound for their home country, officials believe it is possible that some of the missing people managed to swim to shore where they went into hiding to avoid detention due to their illegal status in Malaysia.

The passengers included women and children, and the boat sank shortly after midnight as it left Malaysia's Carey Island. It was most likely bound for Indonesia's Sumatra Island, reports stated.

However, the maritime agency didn't receive a distress signal from the boat until around 12:45 a.m., some time after it is believed the vessel initially sank.

Police said the boat lacked standard safety equipment such as life jackets, but rescue teams were still working hard in hopes of finding more survivors.

Authorities believe that a combination of bad weather, overloading, and the bad condition of the sea vessel led to the sinking.

As a rapidly developing nation, Malaysia has drawn migrant workers from around south Asia, and studies have shown that close to half of migrant workers in the country hail from Indonesia.

Although Malaysia carries out periodic crackdowns on illegal workers, the nation is still home to a whopping 2 million undocumented immigrants - a number which makes up 7 percent of Malaysia's population.

In the past, the treatment of Indonesian migrants - both legal and illegal - in Malaysia has been a touchy topic. Many argue that gaps in Malaysia's labor laws allow for the abuse of overseas migrants to take place.

Tagsoverloaded, boat, Indonesia, Malaysia, migrants, sank, deaths