Cox's Bazaar: A boat sank in the Bay of Bengal on Monday leaving 115 migrants missing while five were rescued. The boat sank after taking on water, according to a report in the Daily Ajkerdish bidesh, a local Cox's Bazaar newspaper on March 12.

It was reported that the boat was overloaded with 120 migrants, both Bangladeshis and Burmese Muslims. It sank in the Bay of Bengal on March 8, 2008, two days after it departed from a jetty in the Bangladesh border town of Teknaf.

Five people were rescued from the water by a local fishing boat but the other 115 passengers remain missing.

The five who were rescued have been identified as: Mr. Zaw Fo Alum (35), Abu Tahail (28) Muhammad Islam(25) Zaw Fol (25) and Abuto Sar Laong. All five are from Teknaf Township in Cox's Bazaar district.

Abuto Sar Laong was quoted as saying that those on board the boat had to pay 20,000 taka each to a local agent to travel to Malaysia by sea, but the boat was old not properly sealed, so it sank in the Bay of Bengal after taking in too much water.

Despite the report, there has been no official comment from the Bangladesh government regarding the sinking of the boat.