18 trawlers sink in Bay, 3 fishermen go missing

Eighteen trawlers sank in Dublarchar of the Sundarbans and in different parts of the Bay of Bengal during a storm on Friday night, reports UNB.

More than 100 fishermen managed to swim ashore or were rescued by other fishermen but three remained missing.

The missing fishermen are Shahin ,40, and Mofizul ,30, of Rampal upazila of Bagerhat and Mizan ,34 of Chakla village of Koyra upazila of Khulna.

Pralad Chandra Roy, in charge of Dublarchar Forest Camp in the eastern parts of the Sundarbans, said a sudden storm and rain hit the area around 10:00pm on Friday.

Ten fishing trawlers sank within 8 kilometers of Dublar Char and 8 fishing trawlers capsized in different areas of the Bay of Bengal, 45 kms off Dublarchar.

He also said that a large quantity of dried fish worth Tk 20 million were damaged during the storm.

Muhammad Belayet Hossain, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Sundarbans East Division, said the Forest Department, Coast Guard and local fishermen are conducting search operations for the three missing fishermen.