At least 15 dead after boat with Rohingya refugees on board capsizes off Bangladesh, 40 still missing

DHAKA, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- At least 15 people died after a boat packed with Rohingya refugees capsized in the Bay of Bengal close to Bangladesh's southeastern border with Myanmar, said an official here on Tuesday.

Hayat Ibna Siddique, Bangladesh Coast Guard spokesman, told journalists that the boat sank in the Bay of Bengal near St Martin's Island on Tuesday morning while trying to go to Malaysia illegally with some 122 people on board.

According to the official, 67 have so far been rescued alive and 40 others still remain missing.

The ill fated passengers of the boat which capsized in the Bay at around 7:00 a.m. local time are from several Rohingya camps located in Cox's Bazar, some 292 km southeast of Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.