Bangladesh boat capsize claims 14 Rohingya, including 10 children

Witnesses and survivors say the vessel overturned just yards from the coast after apparently hitting a submerged object and split into two

In this September 27, 2017 photo, a Rohingya woman and her child arrive in the cover of darkness on the banks of the Naf river on Shah Porir Dwip island, Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. Packed vessels, teeming with Rohingya refugees, continue to arrive along the banks of the river in the night. A boat carrying Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar capsized off Bangladesh on September 28, 2017, killing 14 Rohingya, 10 of the victims being children.

At least 10 children and four women were killed when a boat carrying Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar capsized in the rough seas off Bangladesh on Thursday, police said.

Witnesses and survivors said the boat overturned just yards from the coast after apparently hitting a submerged object and was later washed ashore in two parts.

They drowned before our eyes.

"They drowned before our eyes. Minutes later, the waves washed the bodies to the beach," said Mohammad Sohel, a local shopkeeper.

One distraught survivor said he had set off for Bangladesh from a coastal village in Myanmar late Wednesday with his wife, who was killed in the disaster along with one of his children.

"The boat hit something underground as it came close to the beach. Then it overturned," Nurus Salam told AFP.

Around 120 of them have drowned

Around 120 Rohingya, many of them children, have drowned trying to reach Bangladesh in small fishing boats that coast guards say are woefully inadequate for the rough seas.

The United Nations estimates that around 4,80,000 have fled Myanmar's violence-wracked Rakhine state in recent weeks after attacks by Rohingya militants on security posts prompted a military crackdown.

Local police constable Fazlul Karim told AFP that 14 bodies had so far been washed ashore, and there were fears the number could rise.