The United Nations reported that two boats full of Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar are missing, and 500 people are believed dead. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
July 16 (UPI) -- About 500 people aboard boats heading to Bangladesh from Myanmar are feared dead after the vessels disappeared, two United Nations agencies said.
The International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees said preliminary information suggests the two vessels left Myanmar's Rakhine state in late June carrying mostly Rohingya passengers. Some of the passengers had traveled from Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, home to Rohingya refugee camps.
It's not clear where the boats were headed.
One boat that was carrying about 250 people lost contact soon after it left, and another boat reportedly carrying about 280 people is believed to have sunk off of the coast of Ayeyarwady, Myanmar, on July 8.
