300 Bangladeshis feared drowned near Andaman

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At least 300 Bangladeshis and some Myanmar nationals bound for Malaysia for jobs are feared drowned near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal, foreign media reported Monday, reports BSS.
Chittagong Port Authority officials said they were yet to get details of the mishap but Britain's 'The Guardian' newspaper Monday reported that more than 300 people believed to be illegal migrants and mostly Bangladeshis were feared to have drowned.
Setting sail for Malaysia, where they were promised jobs, in six boats 45 days ago, the would-be migrants soon became lost and drifted through the Bay of Bengal. The mishap took place off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal Sunday as the victims jumped into the sea and were trying to swim ashore.
Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, however, told the news agency that Dhaka had sent letters to embassies of India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka for taking initiatives for the rescue of the victims while issued a general appeal to other neighbouring countries for any possible supports in this regard.
"We are seeking more details on the reported incident," said Chowdhury, who is also in charge of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment. He expressed his deep shock at the deaths.
The Indian news agency IANS quoted a defence official in the Andamans who said that after intercepting the boat people, the Thai authorities had put them on a pontoon tied to a ship to deport them. But they had quietly released the cable and the pontoon started drifting.
Mohammad Ismail Arafat, one of the survivors, told the Indian coastguard that he and others had paid a Bangladeshi agent for promised jobs in Malaysia.
The Times of India website said that after being detained for four weeks, the boat people were transferred to a non-mechanised vessel with some bags of rice and set adrift off the Thai coast 12 days ago. The men had little food or water and only a plastic sheet as a makeshift sail, Arafat told Indian officials.
Seven died while the group drifted between Thailand and the Andamans, and their bodies were dumped at sea.
The coastguard found the vessel with 88 men still on board about 40 miles off Hut Bay.
Indian Coastguard officials said Sunday 88 men from an original group of 412 had been rescued from a boat found near Little Andaman island, about 90 kolometre (55 miles) south of Port Blair.
On Monday, they put the number of survivors at 102 when two more bodies were found taking to seven the number of bodies recovered.
Reuters from Port Blair of Andaman Nicobor Islands Monday reported that the Indian officials were still hoping to find survivors among about 300 men.
Two Indian navy ships have joined coastguard vessels searching for the missing men, many of whom are feared to have drowned, the report said.
"We are looking for them in all possible places near the south of Little Andaman as we think there could be more survivors," Andamans defence spokesman Mannu Virk told Reuters in Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar islands.
"We will continue our search and rescue operation in all the islands," he said.