11 bodies of Rohingya who attempted to flee from Bhasan Char recovered

Naval authorities have recovered bodies of 11 Rohingya refugees who went missing after their boat sank in the Bay of Bengal while they were trying to flee Bhasan Char.

Members of the Coast Guard, Navy and police retrieved the bodies from deep sea and coasts of Sandwip during a search until Tuesday evening.

The search began after an engine-driven boat sank deep into Friday night.

Coast Guard East Zone Zonal Commander Captain Kazi Shah Alam told bdnews24.com that the Navy recovered one of the bodies from deep sea a couple of days ago.

In a search carried out from Monday to Tuesday evening, the Coast Guard picked up eight bodies from the sea and coasts of Sandwip. The police also found two bodies from Sandwip coasts, Captain Alam said.

Among the bodies, two were female and five others were children.

Sandwip Police OC Bashir Ahmad Khan said they saw two bodies floating near the coast and retrieved them before handing them over to the Coast Guard.

Captain Alam said the bodies were then handed over to Rohingya camp authorities in Bhasan Char.

Rohingya people, at times, try to flee from Bhasan Char camp and head for Chattogram across the sea on such boats striking deals with brokers.

Police arrested refugees in Chattogram after they fled from Bhasan Char in several drives.