More than 100 boatpeople were rescued by local fishermen off Indonesia's Aceh province early Wednesday, and around 400 more were still believed to be at sea, an official said.

Khoirul Nova, a search and rescue official, said that at 2 am (1900 GMT Tuesday) the fishermen rescued 102 boatpeople "from the sea of the Malacca Strait, including 30 children and 26 women".