Dozens of Rohingya refugees found standing on hull of capsized wooden boat

An Indonesian search and rescue ship found a wooden boat that had been carrying dozens of Rohingya Muslim refugees that capsized and began pulling survivors who had been standing on its hull to safety.

Men, women and children, weak and soaked from the night’s rain, wept as the rescue operation got underway and people were taken aboard a rubber dinghy to the rescue boat.

It was unclear how many refugees were aboard the small craft when it capsized off of Indonesia’s northern coast on Wednesday 20 March, with six survivors first rescued by local fishermen estimating between 60 and 100 people.