Dhaka: At least three Rohingya women were drowned and 46 others rescued when a trawler carrying a group of people trying to illegally migrate to Malaysia capsized in the Bay of Bengal Tuesday, Bangladeshi authorities said.
The trawler was on its way to Malaysia but sank near Teknaf in Bangladesh’s Cox Bazar District, due to strong currents, The Dhaka Tribune newspaper quoted Officer-in-Charge Noor Mohammad of Teknaf’s Baharchara police outpost.
According to The Daily Star newspaper, the Bangladesh Coast Guard recovered the bodies of three Rohingya women and rescued at least 46 people, of which 42 were Rohingyas and the rest were Bangladeshis.
It was not clear how many people were onboard when the trawler sank.
Some of those rescued said that there were about 85 people on the trawler, the Bangla Tribune reported.
Rescue efforts are still underway but more casualties are feared, a Coast Guard official said.
The sinking of the trawler comes days after a boat carrying Hindu devotees capsized in a river in northwestern Bangladesh, killing at least 68 people.
PTI