West Bengal: Five fishermen missing after trawler capsizes

KOLKATA: Five of 18 fishermen, who had gone missing after their trawler capsized in the sea near the Bangladesh coast, could not be traced till Friday evening. The 13 others were rescued as were the occupants of two other fishing boats that also capsized. The trawlers had left Kakdwip on Tuesday and were scheduled to stay out longer in the sea but were headed back after a weather alert was sounded.
Five of the 18 fishermen - who had gone missing when a fishing trawler on the way back from the deep sea capsized near Bangladesh coast - could not be traced till Friday evening when search operations were called off. Thirteen fishermen could be rescued.
Apart from the trawler Sudhamoyee that overturned, two more fishing boats - Botalakshmi and Sundamoyee - had capsized in the choppy waters but the fishermen could be rescued. All of them had left Kakdwip fishing harbour on Tuesday and were returning on Friday when the mishap occurred. The boats were originally scheduled to stay out longer in the sea but had turned around and were headed back after an alert was sent out to all fishermen to return to the harbour.
The fishing community in Kakdwip remained on tenterhooks on Friday following the news of the capsize. Locals said there was little hope of rescuing the five fishermen who were still missing. Kalpana Das, mother of Biplab, said, "We really don't know what happened to our boys." Apoma Das, mother of Milan, said, "This was their maiden trip to dee-sea fishing. We were dead against their fishing adventure. But they convinced us that they would return safe."
"The situation is so bad at the spot that till late evening, no information on the rescue or survival of the fishermen could be gathered. Despite several attempts, we failed to establish any communication with the six vessels reaching the spot for a rescue operation. We may wait till the vessels come back on Saturday," said Satinath Patra, secretary of the Sunderban Samudrik Matsyojibi Shramik Union.