Rohingya exodus: Five dead, dozens missing as boat sinks in Bangladesh

In the last seven weeks, more than half-a-million Rohingya have fled Rakhine and crossed into neighbouring Bangladesh.

Cox's Bazar (Bangladesh), Oct 16: There is seemingly no end to woes of Rohingya refugees. At least five people were killed and dozens left missing after a boat packed with Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar's Rakhine state for Bangladesh sank in a river that separates the two nations.

"The boat was carrying around 50 people when it sank on the estuary of the Naf river in the morning. Five bodies were found including four children, and 21 people survived," Border Guard Bangladesh area commander Lieutenant Colonel S.M. Ariful Islam told AFP.

On October 14, four Rohingya refugees, including three children, were trampled to death by wild elephants as they were building a shack on forest land in southern Bangladesh.

In the last seven weeks, more than half-a-million Rohingya have fled Rakhine and crossed into neighbouring Bangladesh, shocking the globe with accounts of Myanmar soldiers and Buddhist mobs murdering and raping civilians, before torching their villages to the ground.

PTI