Coxu2019s Bazar: At least 14 people drowned and dozens more were unaccounted for after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees sank in southern Bangladesh on Tuesday, officials said.
Some 130 people were packed on the fishing trawler that was trying to get across the Bay of Bengal to Malaysia, coast guard spokesman Hamidul Islam said.
Many of the 700,000- plus Rohingya who fled a military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017 have tried to leave overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladeshu2019s Coxu2019s Bazar on boats headed for Malaysia.
Islam said the boat was one of two vessels that were making the journey. u201c We have found one capsized boat. All of them were mainly from the refugee camps. We havenu2019t found the second boat yet.
We will continue our operation,u201d Islam said. Agencies 130 Total no. of people present on the boat Rohingya boat sinks in Bangladesh, 14 dead Coast guards escort Rohingya refugees following the boat capsizing accident in Teknaf on Tuesday. PIC/ AFP
