Residents of Penang have made a rare sighting of turtle hatchlings on a beach that was hit by the tsunami last December, a report said today.

The last time residents of Tanjung Bungah saw the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles was six years ago, the Sun newspaper said.

The 31 baby turtles are believed to have been hatched from eggs laid on the beach on the night of the Dec 26 tsunami, it said.

Joha Ismail, 29, a beach cafe owner, said local residents had seen an adult turtle come ashore that day but no one paid attention as they were busy with relief work.

"The tsunami must have washed the turtle ashore or disoriented it - which led it to land in the area," he said.

Fisheries officials released the baby turtles back into the sea.

A total of 68 people died in Malaysia, mostly in Penang, following the tsunamis which left almost 288,000 dead or missing across the Indian Ocean.