A boat carrying 31 people, including at least 28 Chinese tourists, has gone missing off the Malaysian coast.
According to the BBC, the boat lost contact after departing the eastern state of Sabah on Saturday.
The Malaysian maritime enforcement agency said search and rescue efforts were being hampered by bad weather.
The incident coincides with the first day of china’s week-long lunar New Year celebration, which is also marked by ethnic Chinese in Malaysia.
The Catamaran boat, was said to have left Kota Kinabalu on Saturday at 09:00 local time (01:00 gmt) and was heading towards Pulau Mengalum, a popular tourist island 60km (37 miles) west of the city.
The Malaysian maritime enforcement agency said it received a distress call from the boat but contact was lost soon after.
