32 Rohingya die, hundreds rescued from boat after weeks at sea

Thirty-two Rohingya are believed to have died on an overcrowded boat stranded in the Bay of Bengal for nearly two months, an official said after hundreds of "starving" people were rescued from the vessel. 

The boat had tried to reach Thailand and Malaysia, some of the nearly 400 people rescued from the trawler told the Bangladesh coastguard.

Nearly 250 women and children were among those rescued on Wednesday off Bangladesh's southeastern coast.

Nearly a million Rohingya live in squalid camps near Bangladesh's border with Myanmar after fleeing a military offensive in 2017. Thousands try every year to reach other countries on crowded rickety boats. 

A Rohingya community leader in Bangladesh, who declined to be named, said there were 482 people on board the boat. 

That suggests more than 50 people may have perished. 

"It made several attempts to land in Malaysia but was turned back. We think several boats carrying Rohingya are still at sea," he said.

Coastguard Lieutenant Commander Hamidul Islam said some of the survivors reported the vessel was denied entry by authorities in Thailand and Malaysia.

Only a few of those rescued had refugee cards from the camps and many had boarded in Arakan in Myanmar's Rakhine state, Lt Commander Islam said. 

They have been detained for illegally entering Bangladesh territory, he added. 

Bangladesh media reports quoted one of those on board as saying the boat was denied entry by Malaysia because of stricter controls due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The UN's refugee agency said it had dispatched staff to the site to help the "extremely malnourished and dehydrated" people. 

"UNHCR is offering to assist the Government to move these people to quarantine facilities and to receive medical attention for those who require it," Louise Donovan said in a statement. 

"Media reports that the group may be infected with the Covid-19 virus have not been substantiated," she added. 

Since late last year, Bangladesh's law enforcement agencies have picked up some 1,000 Rohingya from coastal villages and boats as they waited to board vessels bound for Malaysia.