Rescuers searched an area of about 170 square nautical miles near the Thai-Malaysian border after a vessel carrying around 300 people departed Myanmar’s Rakhine state three days earlier, said Romli Mustafa, the maritime agency head for the region.
Images released by the agency showed one survivor covered with a sheet and another being carried on a stretcher.
Rakhine state has long faced conflict and hunger, with ethnic violence largely targeting the Rohingya Muslim minority. Following a military crackdown in 2017, about 1.3 million Rohingya fled and now live in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.
Malaysian state media Bernama quoted Kedah province police chief Adzli Abu Shah as saying the group initially boarded a large vessel in Myanmar before being told to transfer to three smaller boats, each carrying about 100 people, to evade detection near Malaysia.
The fate of the remaining two boats was unknown, and search-and-rescue operations continued, he said.
Driven by persecution in Myanmar and worsening conditions in Bangladesh, many Rohingya risk dangerous sea crossings to reach Malaysia.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 5,100 Rohingya have attempted sea journeys from Myanmar and Bangladesh between January and early November this year, with nearly 600 people reported dead or missing.