A fishing boat that went missing late last month has sparked rumours that Rohingyas from Bangladesh and Arakan State in Burma have again taken to boats and fled to Malaysia, sources in southern Bangladesh said.

A group of fishermen led by Mohamed Alam embarked on September 26 to work in the Bay of Bengal for a planned week-long trip and are yet to return.

“Alam took my fishing boat to work in the Bay of Bengal, but he has not yet returned, said Mohamad Hassan, the owner of the missing vessel and a resident of Teknaf town.

He added that Mohamad Alam has worked for many years on his boat and that all his efforts to get information about him and the rest of the crew’s whereabouts have failed.

A group of fishermen recently returned from the Bay of Bengal said they saw no signs of the missing men.

Another boat operator dismissed the rumours that the missing vessel was headed for Malaysia.

“The local people spreading this rumour about the boat people fleeing to Malaysia don’t realize that it would be impossible for them to make that journey. The condition of the seas right now would kill anyone who tried to make that trip,” the boat operator said.

Other coastal residents suggested that the boat most likely sank because of recent storms and rough seas.