300 feared dead off India coast
More than 300 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar were missing and feared dead off India’s eastern coast after they jumped from a rickety boat that had been adrift 13 days and tried to swim to shore, an official said Monday. Authorities rescued 102 others on the boat.
Officials were searching for the missing in the waters near the Andaman Islands, said Vijay Singh, an Indian coast guard spokesman.
The migrants had tried to swim to the islands by the time Indian officials found the boat and its remaining passengers Saturday, he said.
The rescued people were brought to Port Blair, the Andaman capital, Singh said.
The Andamans are a remote chain of Indian-ruled islands about 800 miles offshore. They are closer to Thailand and Myanmar.
Impoverished Bangladeshis often pay up to $300 apiece to trafficking syndicates to carry them to Thailand or Malaysia to search for better jobs. They often travel in dangerous boats.
The Bangladeshis are sometimes joined by Myanmar refugees.
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