Eyewitnesses reveal first clues about fate of 200 Rohingya refugees in boat that vanished weeks ago

The screams were heard soon after the ailing boat emerged into view. On board were babies and children, alongside mothers and fathers begging to be saved.

The passengers were ethnic Rohingya Muslims who had fled surging gang violence and rampant hunger in the refugee camps of Bangladesh, only to find themselves adrift with a broken engine on the Andaman Sea. For a moment, it appeared their salvation had arrived in the form of another boat carrying Rohingya refugees that had pulled up alongside them.

But those on board the other boat – itself overloaded and beginning to leak – knew if they allowed the distressed passengers onto their