GENEVA, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR on Thursday revealed that it has received a report of a tragedy in the Bay of Bengal in which 14 Rohingya refugees are believed to have drowned when their boat capsized on Thursday.
UNHCR said that the boat was very close to shore when it capsized, and the bodies of the 14 people were recovered on Inani Beach, a sharp coral stone beach south of Cox's Bazar.
There are also unconfirmed reports that a second boat is missing, UNHCR added.
Among the dead UNHCR said that there were five girls, four boys and five women.
"It is saddening that refugees fleeing violence drowned in sight of the land and safety they were desperately searching for," said UNHCR's Director for the Asia and Pacific region, Indrika Ratwatte, adding that the number of women and children involved highlights "how the most vulnerable are often the most affected in these tragedies."
According to the latest figures issued by the UN migrant agency IOM, since Aug. 25 when violence broke out in Rakhine State of Myanmar, an estimated 480,000 people have crossed into Cox's Bazar of Bangladesh.
