400 Rohingya Muslims on board two boats adrift in the Andaman Sea

The UN refugee agency sounded the alarm for hundreds of Rohingya Muslims believed to be aboard two boats reported to be out of supplies and adrift on the Andaman Sea (AP)

An estimated 400 Rohingya Muslims believed to be aboard two boats adrift in the Andaman Sea without adequate supplies could die if more is not done to rescue them, the UN has said.

The number of Rohingya Muslims fleeing by boats – usually from squalid, overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh – has been rising since last year due to cuts to food rations and a spike in gang violence.