A boat carrying nearly 200 people believed to be from Bangladesh and Burma has been found stranded on a tiny island off Aceh in northwest Indonesia.
Officials in Aceh say the passengers on the boat are all men and many are in weak condition.Many of the men were taken to hospitals on the island, Sabang, for treatment. Officials are trying to determine where the men came from.
Last month, Indian coast guard authorities say about 300 illegal migrants from Bangladesh and Burma went missing and were feared to have drowned off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.Authorities are still searching for the missing men who were reported to have jumped from their disabled boat.At least 10 bodies have washed ashore on the Andaman Islands, a remote archipelago in the Bay of Bengal.
One survivor from the incident told Indian authorities that he and others had paid a Bangladeshi agent for passage to Malaysia, and for a job.