At least 12 dead, scores missing as boat packed with Rohingya capsizes

Coast guard and border guard officials said the boat was overloaded with about 100 people when it sank in the mouth of the Naf river that divides Myanmar from its South Asian neighbour Bangladesh.

world Updated: Oct 09, 2017 10:28 IST

Agence France-Presse, Cox’s Bazar

Bodies of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, who were killed when their boat capsized on the way to Bangladesh, are brought to a local Islamic school in Shah Porir Dwip, in Teknaf, near Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, October 9, 2017.(Reuters Photo)

At least 12 people died and scores were missing Monday after a boat packed with Rohingya refugees, mostly children, capsized, the latest tragedy to strike those fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Coast guard and border guard officials said the boat was overloaded with about 100 people when it sank late Sunday in the mouth of the Naf river that separates Myanmar from its South Asian neighbour Bangladesh.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) official Abdul Jalil told AFP that 12 bodies had been recovered after a all-night rescue operation, saying “they include 10 children, an elderly woman and a man”.

Nearly 520,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh in the last six weeks after the military in Buddhist-majority Myanmar launched a crackdown after attacks by Rohingya militants.