The United Nations called on Sunday for the rescue of 185 people, mostly women and children, on board a damaged boat in the Indian Ocean.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported in a statement that about 70 children and 88 women were among the passengers, noting that the boat was off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean.
"At least a dozen are feared to be in critical condition with one individual reported to have already died", UNHCR said.
UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said that the agency was reaching out to all the coastal authorities in the area to urge rescuing the migrants, who are believed to be Rohingya.
According to estimates by UNHCR, more than two thousand Rohingya people undertook risky sea journeys to countries in southeast Asia in 2022.
Additionally, since last year, more than 570 people, including Rohingya refugees, have been killed or went missing at sea in the region.
