27 Rohingyas feared dead after boat capsizes while fleeing from Bhasan Char

At least 27 people, including women and children, have remained missing after a boat packed with Rohingyas fleeing Bhasanchar sank off the Bay of Bengal in the wee hours of Saturday.

Around 41 Rohingyas were on board the boat when it capsized in the rough sea near Chattogram and some 20km away from Bhasanchar at 2am on the day, said police and camp Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) officials.

Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Coast Guard were conducting search and rescue operations.  

As of Saturday evening, 14 Rohingyas were rescued unharmed by local fishermen and the remaining 27 were still missing, said Sujit Kumar Chanda, in-charge of Bhasanchar camp and an official of the RRRC.

"Around 10pm on Friday, 41 Rohingyas including women and children fled the Island. When they reached near Chattogram at around 2am on Saturday, the boat sank in the rough sea. The boat they were travelling by is locally known as 'country boat'", added Sujit. 

Quoting rescued Rohingyas, he said, "The overloaded boat might have sunk after losing control amid rough weather."

"Even though search and rescue operations are going on no body was recovered in the last 14 hours till 8pm on Saturday," said Sujit.

"We came to know about the incident when local fishermen came to the island to drop the rescued Rohingyas at 4am."  

Bangladesh Coast Guard Media Officer (East Zone) Lt Abdur Rouf, "Bangladesh Coast Guard Porte Grande and Aparajeya Bangla are conducting search and rescue operations along with all the patrol boats near to the accident area." 

The Bangladesh government has relocated around 18,000 Rohingya refugees from Cox's Bazar overcrowded camps to Bhasanchar Island.

Rafiqul Islam, officer in-charge of Bhasanchar police station, said, "The refugees are fleeing the Island regularly taking help from middlemen whenever they get chance."