A boat carrying Chinese migrants has capsized off the coast of the Mexican southern state of Oaxaca, killing eight migrants, and Mexican authorities say they are investigating the incident.

Oaxacan state officials said in a statement posted on X that the only survivor, a man, had said the boat was steered by a Mexican and that they had left the border city of Tapachula in Chiapas state on Thursday.

Tapachula, on the border with Guatemala, is where many migrants hoping to get to the United States depart.

The difficulty of obtaining visas for the United States and the economic after-shocks of COVID-19 lockdowns have led to a sharp increase in Chinese citizens presenting at the US-Mexico border.

The other migrants on the boat, seven women and one man from China, all died, the statement said, adding that they have not been officially identified.

—AAP