However, all the passengers are believed to have been rescued by fishing boats that were fishing in the bay at the time, said Abbdu Rahim, a survivor from Zaliya Para of Shapuri Dip.

Nevertheless, local people say that about five passengers who were inside the boat under the deck may have died, but so far, local people have not found any dead bodies, said a local fisherman from Shapuri Dip.

Mahbubul Haque, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Teknaf Police Station, said, "I have heard that a Malaysia-bound trawler has capsized. No one has complained to me yet. We can't confirm the incident."

Survivors Mohammad Amin, Kala Meah, and Tayub of Konna Para of Shapuri Dip said they were going to Malaysia with the help of local agents Firoz, Ismail, Sharif Hossain, Yunus, Dholu Hossain, Shabbir Hussain, Mohamed Alam, Abdul Hakim, Salim Ullah, Jaffar, Arof Ullah, and Salim.

“Three small boats from Shapuri Dip, which are able to ferry 15-to-20 passengers per boat with a medium-sized engine, were anchored to the northern side of Shapuri Dip in the Bay of Bengal. After ferrying all the passengers to the said boat, it started along with 110 passengers to ferry them to another big vessel that was also anchored in the Bay of Bengal near Saint Martin’s Island. However, after a few moments, the boat sank in the Bay of Bengal because of overloading. Water entered from the bottom of the boat.”

“When the passengers cried out, nearby fishing boats rushed to the spot and rescued all of them.”

"There were Rohingyas and Bengalis among the passengers, so we don’t know all of them," said a survivor.

Illegal and risky journeys by engine boats to Thailand or Malaysia have become common in the area during the last couple of years. People make the journey in winter when the sea is calm. The route runs through the Bay of Bengal to Thailand. From there, somebody who is actively looking for employment is taken to Malaysia by land, said a local businessman from Teknaf.
 
“Over the years, many boats have capsized, killing passengers. The Indian and Thai coast guards arrest many of the fortune-seekers. The Rohingya ethnic people of Arakan State, Burma, intrude into Bangladesh territory due to the alleged persecution of the Burmese junta.”

According to our reporter from Shapuri Dip, an engine boat with 56 passengers departed for Malaysia this evening from Shapuri Dip. This boat was managed by Moulvi Mujib from Teknaf, and Jaffar and Nur Alam from Shapuri Dip. The captain of the boat is Nur Alam from Burma.

The agents or brokers collected Kyat 30,000 before going to Malaysia or Thailand, and after arriving in Malaysia, the boat people have to pay Taka 70,000 per person, said a survivor.