’10 deaths’ on stranded Myanmar migrant boat
Myanmar migrants on a boat stranded for a week in the Andaman Sea with no food or water say 10 people have died, while some are resorting to drinking urine.
The fishing boat, carrying about 350 people of the Muslim Rohingya minority, has been refused entry to Thailand.
Those on board told the BBC the crew abandoned them and disabled the engine. They said the bodies of those who had died were thrown overboard.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have been turning away migrant boats.
Several thousand people are still believed to be stuck in boats off the coasts of Thailand and Malaysia.
Most are Rohingya Muslims who cannot go back to Myanmar, also known as Burma, where they are not recognised as citizens of the country and are regularly persecuted.
The migrants – including 50 women and 84 children – said they had been at sea for three months.
Their situation became critical when their crew abandoned them without a working engine six days ago anchored near the Thai-Malaysian border.
