Langkawi: Rescued after days stranded on a Malaysian island, weak and shaken Iman Shorif recounted on Tuesday how he watched a child drown when their boat carrying migrants from Myanmar capsized.

Iman, who is 18 and from Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya minority, survived last week's shipwreck off the Thai-Malaysian coast that killed at least 26 people.

He was picked up by a Malaysian rescue boat in a bay on Langkawi island, five days after the boat carrying some 70 undocumented migrants sank close to the maritime border between Southeast Asian neighbours Thailand and Malaysia.

Speaking to journalists after his rescue, Iman said the boat journey "started from Buthidaung", a small township in Myanmar's Rakhine state, and had gone on "for five to six days" before it went down.

When the boat sank, "I saw one death... it was a child, I saw him drowning," said the visibly weak teenager.

Rescuer Mohd Zamri Abdul Ghani said Iman was spotted when he waved with a polystyrene board.

"We were really moved when we found him... Because it's already the fourth day" of the search mission, Zamri told journalists. "He was excited to see us... Physically, he looked exhausted."

Iman was stranded near a waterfall, meaning he had a source of fresh water, the rescuer said.

MENAFN11112025000063011010ID1110327310