By the time they were rescued, one person was already dead, the rest of the passengers from Burma and Bangladesh were extremely dehydrated Sri Lanka’s Navy spokesperson Kosala Warnakulasuriya told the Zee News.

 “It was not immediately clear where the vessel was headed or whether they were asylum seekers, and we weren’t able to get much information as to their port of origin… but we have asked the embassies of the two countries to help us with translations…We are certain that they were not trying to enter Sri Lanka, but their boat developed trouble in mid-sea and they drifted close to our shores.”

Fifteen of the voyagers, including two women and two children, were hospitalized with acute dehydration at the local hospital and in Colombo, according to police statement from Prishantha Jayakody.

Reports from local fishermen alerted fishing authorities, who in turn asked for help from the navy. The navy mounted a 24-hour search and rescue operation for the sinking vessel, according to officials.

The survivors’ information is being taken before they will being moved to a shelter in Colombo under judicial supervision, according to the police statement. In the meantime, the authorities at Oluvil fishing harbor were giving them temporary shelter.

At the time of press it’s still unknown if the 14 voyagers who’ve been identified as Burmese nationals were Rohingya - members of a stateless Muslim minority described by the UN as one of the world’s most persecuted groups.