60 Rohingya Muslims presumed dead as their boat capsized
More than 60 people are presumed dead after a boat carrying Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar capsized, the UN migration agency has said.
Spokesman Joel Millman of the International Organization for Migration told reporters in Geneva on Friday that 23 deaths have been confirmed, after eight bodies were found overnight following an initial count of 15.
Witnesses and survivors said the incident took place on Thursday, when the vessel overturned in waters close to Patuwartek, some eight kilometers off Inani Beach in Cox’s Bazar District of rough waters off Bangladesh after it was lashed by torrential rain and high winds.
There are speculations that the death toll may rise as more than 100 Rohingya were on board the boat.
“It’s a very sad story. There were a hundred Rohingya on board when it sank,” Hala Jaber, another IOM spokesperson told AFP, adding that search efforts were ongoing.
More than half a million minority Rohingya Muslims have fled an army campaign in just a few weeks, escaping Myanmar into Bangladesh.
The violence, the latest and most deadly upsurge in years of government oppression and communal hatred between Rohingya and Buddhists in Rakhine, exploded on 25 August.
