300 migrants feared dead off Andaman islands
- By Super Admin
- Published Tuesday 30th 2008
About 300 illegal migrants, mostly Bangladeshis, are
feared dead after they jumped from a boat and tried to swim ashore in
India’s remote Andaman islands, the Indian coast guard said on Sunday.
A senior coast guard official said they had rescued 88 people from a small boat near Little Andaman island on Saturday.
Another 11 men were found on nearby Sandy Point island, said SP Sharma, commander of the coast guard for the Andaman region, adding that about 300 men were still missing.
‘Around 300 of them reportedly jumped into the sea hoping to swim across to the shore,’ Sharma told reporters in Port Blair.
‘While all of them are feared dead or missing, search operations are still ongoing,’ he said.
A survivor told officials there had been 412 men, aged between 18 and 60, on the boat, which had little food or water and only a plastic sheet for a sail.
Sharma said the man told the police seven others had died at sea and their bodies were dumped overboard.
Preliminary investigations suggested the men had left Bangladesh bound for Malaysia in six motorised boats about 45 days ago. At some point on their journey, the men had changed vessels, a coast guard statement said.
One survivor, identified as Mohammad Ismail Arafat, said he
and others had paid a Bangladeshi agent for promised jobs.
‘We were left to the mercy of God ... after drifting for 10-15 days when finally we saw a lighthouse, many jumped into the water,’ the statement quoted him as saying.
Coast guard vessels were still combing the area and the police were searching nearby islands for survivors.
Indian authorities said on Monday they still hope to find survivors, although the navy said it had recovered two more bodies.
Two Indian navy ships have joined coastguard vessels searching for the missing men, officials said.
‘We are looking for them in all possible places near the south of Little Andaman as we think there could be more survivors,’ the Andamans defence spokesman, Mannu Virk, said in Port Blair.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie about 1,200 km off India’s east coast.
In Dhaka, the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reports: The foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, said Bangladesh had sent letters to embassies of India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka for taking initiatives for the rescue of the victims while issued a general appeal to other neighbouring countries for any possible supports in this regard.
‘We are seeking more details on the reported incident,’ said Chowdhury, who is also in charge of the ministry of expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment, also expressing his deep shock at the deaths.
Source: New Age
A senior coast guard official said they had rescued 88 people from a small boat near Little Andaman island on Saturday.
Another 11 men were found on nearby Sandy Point island, said SP Sharma, commander of the coast guard for the Andaman region, adding that about 300 men were still missing.
‘Around 300 of them reportedly jumped into the sea hoping to swim across to the shore,’ Sharma told reporters in Port Blair.
‘While all of them are feared dead or missing, search operations are still ongoing,’ he said.
A survivor told officials there had been 412 men, aged between 18 and 60, on the boat, which had little food or water and only a plastic sheet for a sail.
Sharma said the man told the police seven others had died at sea and their bodies were dumped overboard.
Preliminary investigations suggested the men had left Bangladesh bound for Malaysia in six motorised boats about 45 days ago. At some point on their journey, the men had changed vessels, a coast guard statement said.
One survivor, identified as Mohammad Ismail Arafat, said he
‘We were left to the mercy of God ... after drifting for 10-15 days when finally we saw a lighthouse, many jumped into the water,’ the statement quoted him as saying.
Coast guard vessels were still combing the area and the police were searching nearby islands for survivors.
Indian authorities said on Monday they still hope to find survivors, although the navy said it had recovered two more bodies.
Two Indian navy ships have joined coastguard vessels searching for the missing men, officials said.
‘We are looking for them in all possible places near the south of Little Andaman as we think there could be more survivors,’ the Andamans defence spokesman, Mannu Virk, said in Port Blair.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie about 1,200 km off India’s east coast.
In Dhaka, the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reports: The foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, said Bangladesh had sent letters to embassies of India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka for taking initiatives for the rescue of the victims while issued a general appeal to other neighbouring countries for any possible supports in this regard.
‘We are seeking more details on the reported incident,’ said Chowdhury, who is also in charge of the ministry of expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment, also expressing his deep shock at the deaths.
Source: New Age
