Our Cox’s Bazar Correspondent :
At least 15 Rohingyas died when a trawler carrying them capsized near Saint Martin’s Island in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday morning. Confirming the deaths, Lt Commander Nayeemul Haq of Bangladesh Coast Guard’s Saint Martin’s Island station said that the trawler capsized en route to Malaysia in the Bay around 7:00am.
The victims–mostly women and three children – were residents of different Rohingya camps located in Teknaf and Ukhia upazila of Cox’s Bazar.
70 Rohingyas have so far been rescued and given primary treatment, Lt Commander Nayeemul Haq said.
The death toll might increase further as 30 to 35 others are still missing, he said quoting the rescued Rohingyas.
He said the trawler, presumed to carry more than 100 people, sailed for Malaysia from the Noakalia Para coastal region under Teknaf upazila in Cox’s Bazar around 3am on Tuesday, and sank three nautical miles off the island later after hitting a stone.
Lt Commander Nayeemul said on information, members of the coast guard went to the spot and started the rescue operation.
Meanwhile, divers pulled out the sunken trawler from the sea, he said. All of the rescued Rohingyas will be brought back to Teknaf from the island in the afternoon, Nayeemul added. Lt Col Abdullah Ibn Zaid, Director of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said, alongside the coast guard ship Mansoor Ali, Bangladesh Navy ships — Durjoy and Karotowa — are also in the rescue operation. At least 300 people started for Malaysia on two trawlers from Monakhali area around 8:00pm yesterday, said Lt Commander M Hamidul Islam, media officer of Coast Guard.
After few hours, one of the trawlers capsized in the Bay, he said. The other trawler has not been located yet.Bangladesh has been hosting over 1.1 million Rohingya refugees in camps in Cox’s Bazar. Of them, more than 730,000 Rohingyas crossed over to Bangladesh in the latest episode of exodus, which began in August 2017, fleeing violent persecution carried out by Myanmar security forces and civilians.
Each year thousands of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas try to go to Malaysia or Indonesia by sea, risking their lives in the perilous journeys. Lured by traffickers, most people attempt the journeys before March, when the sea usually remains calm.
