Refugee boats capsize off Myanmar
13:44, 14 May 2013
NAYPAYIDAW. May 14. KAZINFORM Three boats carrying as many as 150 people are believed to have capsized near the western coast of Myanmar as local residents scrambled to avoid a storm that's approaching the area, a U.N. agency said Tuesday.
The boats containing Rohingya, a long-suffering Muslim minority, are reported to have hit rocks and turned over on Monday night as they traveled from Pauktaw township in Rakhine state, said Kirsten Mildren, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Bangkok.
One of the boats was towing the two others, and between them they were believed to be carrying 100 to 150 people, she said.
The boats were part of an effort to relocate people in Rakhine away from low-lying areas, Mildren said, ahead the potential arrival of Cyclone Mahasen, a storm that may hit the state later this week, according to CNN.