Bodies of 2 fishermen recovered; 12 still missing

Coast Guard members recovered bodies of two fishermen who went missing from the trawlers that sank in the Bay of Bengal during a storm early Saturday.

The deceased were identified as Mamun Sheikh (40), son of Anwar Sheikh of Kaliganj village in Chitalmari upazila of Bagerhat district and Ismail Khan (36), son of Azizul Khan of Janerpar village in Matbaria upazila of Pirojpur district.

The bodies were recovered during a search  operation conducted by the Coast Guard, the Forest Department and fishermen.

Among the missing, three were identified as Shahin (40), and Mofizul (30), of Rampal upazila in Bagerhat and Mizan (34), of Chakla village in Koyra upazila of Khulna.

Earlier, the Coast Guard rescued three fishermen hours after several trawlers sank during a sudden storm.

Pralad Chandra Roy, in-charge of Dublarchar Forest Camp in the eastern parts of the Sundarbans, said a sudden rainstorm hit the area around 10 pm on Friday.

Ten fishing trawlers sank within 8 kms of Dublar Char and 8 fishing trawlers capsized in different areas of the Bay of Bengal.

He also said that a large quantity of dried fish worth Tk 2 crore were damaged during the storm.