Two people have drowned after a boat carrying Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh from Myanmar capsized in the Naf river, police said on Thursday.

Police officer Mainuddin Khan said the bodies of a woman and a child were found in river, which separates Bangladesh from Myanmar.

Deutsch Presse-Agentur, dpa, quoted officer Khan as saying, "Most of the 35 passengers aboard the boat managed to swim ashore."

"The boat might have capsized after midnight at Nayapara in Teknaf, the southern-most tip of Bangladesh bordering Myanmar," police said.