Bangladesh: The boat carrying 125 Rohingya migrants capsized in the Bay of Bengal this morning, killing at least 16 people.

Marine police, navy divers and other rescue forces in Bangladesh found the bodies of 14 women, a child and a man after a wooden boat capsized off St. Island. Martin, Noor Ahmed, a local official, said.

Ahmed said about 62 refugees on board were still alive. They were invited by traffickers on boats from different places to Malaysia.

Iqbal Hossain, police chief of the town of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, said the boat was carrying so many people that it capsized. The boat even carried more packages.

Hossain said the bodies were taken to nearby Shah Porir island and the search and rescue operation is still ongoing. However, Hossain did not give the exact number of missing people.

Traffickers often lure refugees with the promise of a better life abroad. In recent years, the Bangladesh Coast Guard has repeatedly stopped the traffickers' attempts to bring people abroad by water.

The location of the boat carrying the displaced migrants Graphics: Google.

More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have found their way to Bangladesh following the country's military operations in August 2017. Myanmar has long held that the Rohingya are "Bengali" migrants from Bangladesh, although they have lived here for generations. Nearly all Rohingya have been denied Myanmar citizenship since 1982, making them stateless.