LILONGWE (Reuters) - At least 47 people thought to be illegal migrants from east Africa died when their boat capsized in Lake Malawi, Malawi police said on Thursday.

The group was apparently trying to enter northern Malawi from Tanzania, police said. Many on board may have been Ethiopians, they added.

“We have buried them in a mass grave because the bodies were in a bad condition. We are still searching for more on the lake,” Karonga district officer in charge, Teresa Nankhuni, told Reuters.

Officers said they believed the boat capsized on Monday night. Bodies were discovered on Wednesday floating in the water.

Organized crime syndicates have increasingly been smuggling people from Ethiopia and Somalia into Malawi because of its porous border and proximity to mining jobs in neighboring southern African countries, police said.