KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Malaysian authorities are searching for at least 32 Indonesian workers whose boat sank while bringing them home for the end of the Muslim fasting month.

A police official said Saturday that the coast guard, police and fishermen have rescued eight survivors since the boat capsized in rough waves off Malaysia’s southern Johor state around midnight Friday.

The suspected undocumented workers were on an hours-long journey to Indonesia’s Batam island ahead of celebrations next week marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Many Indonesians working illegally in Malaysia travel on boats believed to be old and unsafe to return to their hometowns.

The district police official in Johor spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.