14 Rohingyas die as boat capsizes in Bay

At least 14 people, mostly children, died as a boat carrying Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar capsized in the Bay of Bengal near Inani beach in Ukhia upazila of Cox’s Bazar.

The dead bodies have been recovered from Patuartek area of the beach on Thursday afternoon.

The death toll may rise, said the local administration.

Ukhia Upazil Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md. Maeen Uddin told Jago News, “Nine children and three women and two men were among the dead.”

“Police and coastguards are conducting operation to rescue the other”, he added.

Around 120 Rohingya, many of them children, have drowned trying to reach Bangladesh in small fishing boats that coastguards say are woefully inadequate for the rough seas.

The United Nations estimates that around 480,000 have recently fled what the United Nations termed “textbook ethnic cleansing” in Rakhine State of Myanmar by the country’s army and the Buddhists.