Four fishing trawlers from Bhola’s Lalmohan Upazila sank in the Bay of Bengal at Cox’s Bazar’s Fishing Ground point with 60 fishermen on board after getting caught in a storm on Friday night.
Although 13 fishermen have been rescued and kept at safe shelters in the Sundarbans and Hatia areas, 47 of them are still missing, said Tanvir Ahmed, Marine Fisheries Officer of the Upazila, reports UNB.
According to locals, the sunken trawlers belonged to Lalmohan Batir Khal area’s Harunur Rashid Faruque, Lord Hardinge Burirdhan area’s Nuruddin Majhi and Gaitta area’s Nazim Uddin Majhi.
Faruk, the owner of the trawler FV Lamiya, said that his trawler set sail towards the Bay from the Batirkhal area with 13 fishermen on board on August 17.
“The trawler came across a storm and capsized on Friday night. On Saturday, I came to know that eight of the fishermen were rescued and brought back to safety while five others were still missing. The missing fishermen are Abdul Motaleb, Abul Kalam, Md Arif, Md Maksud and Md Nirob,” said Faruk.
Abul Kashem Mia, a UP chairman from the Lalmohan area, said that five fishermen from the other three trawlers have been rescued.
“They are currently in Hatia. 42 fishermen are still missing,” said Kashem.
