Nine fishermen killed as trawler capsizes in Bay of Bengal
(Sourced from PTI)
Bodies of nine fishermen from West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district were found on Thursday morning inside the trawler that capsized in the Bay of Bengal. One person is still missing and a search is on to find him, officials said. The trawler, "Haimabati," capsized due to sudden high waves near Rakteshwari island off the Bakkhali coast in the early hours of Wednesday.
Fishermen Sankar Sashmal Majhi and Saikat Das who were on the deck and operating the trawler could manage to jump into the sea. Later, another fishing boat rescued Majhi and Das, the officials informed. It is suspected that the other fishermen were sleeping and did not get the time to escape, they said.
The nine bodies were found in the cabin of the trawler, which was loaded with fish, after a day of search and rescue efforts, they said. The Coast Guard is leading the search for missing fisherman Anadi Sashmal, a resident of Haripur in Namkhana block. Apart from patrol vehicles, drones have been deployed to locate him, an official said.
Police said that the capsized trawler was spotted and towed to the coast by at least five to six other trawlers during the search and rescue operation. The trawler, owned by one Jamuna Rani Lal, left for the sea five days back with 12 fishermen from the 10 Mile area in Namkhana, the official said.
