Nine fishermen dead, one missing as trawler capsizes in Bay of Bengal

Nine fishermen from West Bengal’s South 24 Paraganas district died when a trawler capsized in the Bay of Bengal. According to sources in the state administration, their bodies were recovered from the trawler on Thursday morning.

They further revealed that one fisherman was missing and search operations were on to trace him.

The trawler named Himabati capsized in the early hours of Wednesday after it encountered sudden high waves near the Rakteshwari island off Bakkhali coast.

Two fishermen Saikat Das and Sashmal Majhi were on the deck of the trawler and were able to escape and jump into the sea. “They were later rescued by another fishing boat,” sources said.

As for those who died, the state administration sources said that they were probably sleeping in the cabin of the trawler and hence were unable to escape.

Patrol vessels and drones have been deployed by the Coast Guard to locate the missing fishermen.