Patuakhali Correspondent :
Eighteen fishing trawlers carrying over 400 fishermen capsized in the Bay of Bengal near Kuakata in Patuakhali due to inclement weather. Of them, more than 150 fishermen have been rescued and over 250 fishermen have still remained missing.
From Saturday evening to 11:00 pm, the locals along with the rescue trawler of the Fishermen’s Association reached the fish landing center with these fishermen. At this time, the fishermen burst into tears.
AnsarUddinMolla, president of Kuakata-Alipur Fish Trader and Fishing Trawler Owners’ Association confirmed the matter.
He said that all the fishermen of the 9 trawlers that capsized Alipur have been rescued from various points in the Bay of Bengal including the Sundarbans. Among them, 13 people were rescued floating from the sea. And 11 fishermen were rescued by the fishermen of Rayadighi, India. They are currently in the custody of South Sundarban Fishermen and Fish Workers Union of India. And the rest of the fishermen were rescued by the trawlers of our owner’s association and local fishermen.
However, 7 trawlers with 126 fishermen are still missing. Alipore is home to all owners of sunken and missing trawlers. Basically we don’t have a rescue boat yet. As a result, they could not be rescued as soon as the trawler sank. Officer-in-charge (OC) of Kuakata Naval Police Outpost AkhtarMorshed said operation is underway to rescue missing fishermen and trawlers although we have lack of rescue vessels.
