Thai police find 32 dead suspected trafficking victims

Rohingya Muslims who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh to escape religious violence, sit in a boat after being intercepted crossing the Naf River by Bangladeshi authorities in Taknaf, Bangladesh in this 2012 file photo. AP

HAT YAI, Thailand—Police in Thailand say they have found the bodies of 32 people believed to be ethnic Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar in an isolated jungle camp, along with one man who was alive but in weak condition.

Some of the bodies were buried, while others were covered with clothing and blankets at a shelter in the mountains of southern Songkla province, police Col. Weerasant Tharnpiem said Friday.

It was not immediately clear what caused the deaths.

Police say they believe the people are Rohingya partly because human traffickers commonly put Rohingya asylum seekers in temporary camps in the area before smuggling them to nearby Malaysia.

The Rohingya are a long-persecuted minority who face heavy discrimination in Myanmar, where sectarian violence in recent years has sparked an exodus to neighboring countries.