Dhaka: At least seven Rohingya migrants, including an old woman and six children, died after two boats capsized near the Bangladesh coast in the last 24 hours, the police said on Tuesday.
In one incident, a boat carrying around 40 Rohingyas sank on Tuesday morning in the Bay of Bengal near the Jalai Palang area in the southeastern part of the country, Efe news reported.
Three children and one old woman died in the accident. Local residents managed to rescue 36 others and five of them were hospitalized.
The other accident in which three children were killed took place in the Bay of Bengal on Monday night.
“The children died after they fell from their mother’s lap while they were approaching the shore from the boat,” a police official said.
More than 600,000 Rohingyas have arrived in Bangladesh since August 25 when the Myanmar Army launched an offensive in Rakhine state following a series of attacks on government posts by Rohingya rebels.
Since the crisis erupted, there have been multiple incidents of boats capsizing, including one in October when at least 34 Rohingyas died, including 18 children.
Nearly 200 Rohingya have drowned since August 29 in over two dozen boat capsizes while trying to flee from conflict-hit Myanmar.