7 Rohingyas killed, 2 Bangladeshis rescued in boat sinking on Thai-Malaysian border
At least 7 people have died after a boat carrying illegal immigrants sank off the coast of Thailand and Malaysia. The British media outlet BBC quoted Malaysian maritime authorities as saying that 13 people had been rescued. Two of them were Bangladeshis. However, hundreds of people are still missing.
Authorities said that a large boat carrying about 300 Rohingyas and Bangladeshis set off from Myanmar’s Rakhine state two weeks ago. They later split into several smaller boats and headed towards Malaysia. The Malaysian coast guard said that the sunken boat sank near the country’s popular tourist island of Langkawi.
The rescue operation began on Sunday (November 9). Malaysian maritime authorities said that the rescue operation has now expanded to an area of 170 to 256 square nautical miles and is expected to last at least seven days.
Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported that the body recovered from the water yesterday was that of a Rohingya woman. According to authorities, the sunken boat was carrying about 70 passengers, but the whereabouts of the other boats are still ‘unclear’. It is worth noting that millions of Rohingya took refuge in Bangladesh after the Myanmar military carried out genocide and torture in August 2017.
