10 Rohingya Reported Dead after Boat Capsizes

30 October 2013

At least 10 people died after a boat carrying 150 Rohingya asylum seekers capsized over the weekend, the Kaladan Press news agency reported on Tuesday. According to the report, the small boat collided with a rock in the mouth of the Naf River, which marks the border between Burma and Bangladesh, while it was ferrying its passengers to a larger vessel bound for Malaysia. Citing a source from southern Maungdaw Township in Arakan State, the report said the incident occurred at around 10 pm on Oct. 26. Police in Maungdaw arrested 31 male survivors, while most of the dead were believed to be women and children carried away by the river’s current.