UN agencies fear about 70 missing or dead from capsized Rohingya refugee boat

By REZA SAIFULLAH and EDNA TARIGAN
Associated Press

MEULABOH, Indonesia (AP) — U.N. agencies say that about 70 Muslim Rohingya believed to have been aboard a boat that made a grueling sea voyage from Bangladesh are feared missing or dead. That estimate comes after hearing accounts of the 75 others who were rescued from the vessel off the coast of Indonesia.  Indonesian fishermen raised the alarm about the stricken vessel Wednesday when they started rescuing its passengers about 22 kilometers (14 miles) off the western coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province.  An Indonesian search and rescue ship on Thursday rescued remaining people clinging to the capsized hull. Over the past year, there has been an increase in boats carrying Rohingya seeking to escape crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh and Myanmar.