Indonesian rescuers found 69 Rohingya people sunburnt and dehydrated on Thursday, floating on a rusty hull off the coast of Aceh.
The country’s search and rescue agency says nine children, 18 women and 42 men were saved. Around 80 others are believed to have been swept away – feared dead. One survivor said that some in the party had been at sea for a month in a wooden boat.
A local fishing vessel had come to the group’s rescue a day earlier. But the migrants reportedly tried to climb on board in a panic, overturning both boats. The survivors were adrift for over a day, stranded on the hull of the second boat.
Every year, thousands of Rohingya attempt the perilous sea journey to Malaysia or Indonesia. They are escaping persecution in Myanmar and overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.
