Over 90 Rohingya refugees feared drowned

MEDAN (INDONESIA): At least 69 Rohingya refugees were rescued after a wooden boat carrying 150 people on board capsized off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province, reports said on Thursday.

However, scores of others were missing and feared drowned. The boat capsized 19km from the beach of Kuala Bubon on the west coast of Aceh after it hit rough seas on Wednesday morning. UN officials while quoting fishermen said that at least 50 of the refugees have drowned and died. However, the exact number of the dead could not be ascertained.

They expressed the fear that most of those presumed to have died were women and children who were unable to swim and carried out to sea by the currents.The rescued refugees said they were from Myanmar and had tried to reach Thailand but turned to Indonesia’s western Aceh province after being rejected.