Naval search teams found the bodies of four adult women and two children who were believed to be travelling home to Indonesia's Batam island, about 45 minutes by boat from southern Malaysia, said marine police inspector Mohamad Mashari Sathi.

Officials launched the search after getting a phone call from a man who claimed to be one of the boat passengers, Insp Mohamad Mashari said. The man said a merchant ship rescued him and other survivors when their boat capsized late on Tuesday but some people were missing.

Insp Mohamad Mashari said it was not clear how many survived because authorities have had not any report from passing ships about the incident. He had no details on whether the boat capsized because it was overloaded or other reasons.

It was the second fatal boat accident involving foreign citizens off Malaysia's southern Johor state in recent weeks.

Six members of a Pakistani family drowned when their boat capsized in choppy waters last month. Authorities have been investigating whether they were asylum-seekers illegally trying to reach Australia from Indonesia.

Marine police often intercept boats with illegal Indonesian immigrants off Johor. -- AP