"coxs-bazar"

They were stranded in the Andaman islands after their boat developed serious technical snags on February 18, a week after it sailed out of Bangladesh

According to an initial estimate, more than 9,500 shanties have been destroyed.

Bhashan Char, measuring 13,000 acres (52 square kilometres), is one of several silty strips to have surfaced in the area in recent decades.