Dozens missing as boat capsizes off Bangladesh
Source: Agencies |
November 8, 2012, Thursday
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NEARBY fishing boats helped rescue 23 people after a boat crowded with illegal migrants capsized yesterday off Bangladesh's coast, but about 50 others remained missing, officials said.
About 70 illegal migrants, mostly Rohingya Muslims, were reportedly traveling on the boat to Malaysia when it sank in the Bay of Bengal.
Border commander Lieutenant Colonel Zahid Hossain said no bodies had been recovered so far, but quoted survivors as saying they saw some bodies after the boat sank off Bangladesh's Teknaf coast, 320 kilometers south of Dhaka.
Survivors said they were traveling to Malaysia to look for jobs.
"We were heading to Malaysia for jobs but the boat suddenly went upside down and sank," said survivor Jamir Hossain. "I floated for several hours before a fishing boat picked me up."
Another survivor, Nazir Ahmed, said the boat was crammed with people, most of whom had no travel documents and had each paid 22,000 taka (US$270) for the journey to Malaysia.
"The boat was over-laden," Ahmed said.
The officials said other fishing boats rescued many of the survivors.
In recent years, poor young people have made dangerous attempts to go abroad for work, often through unscrupulous human traffickers, with local reports saying stateless Rohingya people living in Bangladesh often attempt the risky trips.
Another boat carrying more than 100 people sank in the Bay of Bengal last month, local media reported. Authorities have not confirmed that sinking, but police launched an investigation after several people filed complaints saying they survived the accident on the trip, organized by a gang of human traffickers.
Bangladesh has refused to grant Rohingyas refugee status since 1992 and regularly turns back people trying to slip out of Myanmar. The UN calls the Rohingyas "virtually friendless."
About 70 illegal migrants, mostly Rohingya Muslims, were reportedly traveling on the boat to Malaysia when it sank in the Bay of Bengal.
Border commander Lieutenant Colonel Zahid Hossain said no bodies had been recovered so far, but quoted survivors as saying they saw some bodies after the boat sank off Bangladesh's Teknaf coast, 320 kilometers south of Dhaka.
Survivors said they were traveling to Malaysia to look for jobs.
"We were heading to Malaysia for jobs but the boat suddenly went upside down and sank," said survivor Jamir Hossain. "I floated for several hours before a fishing boat picked me up."
Another survivor, Nazir Ahmed, said the boat was crammed with people, most of whom had no travel documents and had each paid 22,000 taka (US$270) for the journey to Malaysia.
"The boat was over-laden," Ahmed said.
The officials said other fishing boats rescued many of the survivors.
In recent years, poor young people have made dangerous attempts to go abroad for work, often through unscrupulous human traffickers, with local reports saying stateless Rohingya people living in Bangladesh often attempt the risky trips.
Another boat carrying more than 100 people sank in the Bay of Bengal last month, local media reported. Authorities have not confirmed that sinking, but police launched an investigation after several people filed complaints saying they survived the accident on the trip, organized by a gang of human traffickers.
Bangladesh has refused to grant Rohingyas refugee status since 1992 and regularly turns back people trying to slip out of Myanmar. The UN calls the Rohingyas "virtually friendless."
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