81 Rohingya refugees were rescued by the Indian Coast Guard from a boat adrift in the Andaman Sea, India’s external affairs ministry said on Thursday.
“The engine of the boat failed on February 15 and since then it has been drifting,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
“Due to the severe conditions, we understand that eight occupants have died and one of the occupants had been missing since February 15.”
The spokesperson also informed that the engine of the boat broke down after four days at sea and the refugees on board had run out of food and water with several people gone ill and facing extreme dehydration at the time they were rescued,
Two coast guard ships were sent to rescue the migrants, 23 of whom were children.
“When we learnt of the boat in distress, we immediately dispatched two coast guard ships to provide food, water and medical assistance to the occupants. Seven of them were administered IV fluids,” Srivastava said.
About 90 Rohingya refugees were present in the boat at the start of the journey. .