Gunmen have kidnapped three Filipino and three Indonesian workers from a beach resort in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah, police said.
About 10 armed men, some wearing camouflage fatigues, forced the six into a boat and took them away late on Sunday.
Sabah, on the north of Borneo island, has been targeted in the past by militants from across the Sulu Sea in the strife-torn southern Philippines.
Police said the raid appeared to be the work of local bandits seeking ransom, but a senior Philippines army officer said the gang was believed to be heading toward the islands of Mindanao province.
Malaysian and Philippines forces were conducting sea and air searches in the waters and islands of the Sulu Sea.
In 2000, militants from the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim militant group with a reputation for banditry, kidnapped tourists including foreigners from Malaysian diving resorts on small islands off the same coast.
Malaysia stepped up naval patrols in the area, but the United States has maintained a travel advisory, warning its citizens to beware of visiting Sabah.