At least two people have died after a boat carrying refugees fleeing Myanmar capsized on its way to Bangladesh on Sunday, local authorities told Reuters.
The boat sank near Shah Porir Dwip, on the southern tip of Bangladesh, said Lieutenant Colonel Ariful Islam, the local commander of Border Guard Bangladesh.
He confirmed via SMS that the bodies of a boy and an elderly woman had been recovered in the water while eight others had been rescued. The rescue operation was ongoing on early Monday morning, local time, and the number of missing unknown, he said.
More than 500, 000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar since Aug. 25, when an attack by Rohingya militants on police and military posts in Rakhine State sparked a ferocious response from Myanmar's security forces which the United Nations described as "ethnic cleansing".
Source: US News