Two dead, 32 missing as boat carrying Rohingya people capsizes

A boat carrying scores of Rohingya people capsized Sunday night at the mouth of Naf River dividing Bangladesh and Myanmar, leaving two people dead and at least 32 others missing, according to local TV.

Law enforcers have recovered two bodies in the Bay of Bengal near Shah Porir Island of Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district, Xinhua news agency reported.

The exact number of the people on board is so far unknown.

According to a survivor, who told local TV channel ATN News, the boat packed with some 40 Rohingya people capsized on the Myanmar side of the river.

Eleven people were rescued, according to the ATN News report.

Quoting another survivor who managed to swim ashore, Lieutenant Colonel SM Ariful Islam with the Border Guard of Bangladesh told the leading Bengali daily newspaper Prothom Alo that the rescued claim that 30 to 32 people have been missing.

The official feared the death toll will rise, as more bodies are likely to be retrieved with a search operation now underway.

--IANS

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