UN says over 500 Rohingya refugees feared dead after two ships sink off Myanmar coast

The United Nations has said 500 people are feared dead after two large shipwrecks involving Rohingya refugees off the coast of Myanmar since late June.

In a statement on Thursday, the UN said that two boats carrying more than 500 people may have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in recent days.

“Two vessels in question departed from war-torn Myanmar’s Rakhine state in late June, with mainly members of the country’s mostly Muslim Rohingya minority onboard,” the statement said.

The UN said one boat, believed to have been carrying about…