Tourists stranded at Saint Martin’s return to Teknaf by boats
More than 300 tourists, who had been stranded at Saint Martin's Island for two days due to inclement weather, have returned to Teknaf by a dozen boats.
The first boat carrying 40 passengers reached Kayukkhali Ghat in Teknaf at around 11am on Tuesday.
Lieutenant Tareq Ahmed, coast guard station officer at Saint Martin's Island, told The Business Standard that tourists stranded at the island started returning this morning as the weather had improved.
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Abul Kalam, general secretary of the Saint Martin Boat Owners' Association, said, "Around 400 people including around 300 stranded tourists left the island by boats between 7:00am and 10:30am today."
"The Teknaf-Saint Martin's Island waterway was resumed on Monday afternoon, but no boat left the island yesterday on cautionary measures. We decided to sail for the mainland on Tuesday morning," he added.
Tourists usually travel to the island by ships. The authorities suspended the shipping on Sunday owing to the rough sea.
Abdul Malek, the owner of Sea Coral Resort at Saint Martin's Island, said, "Amid the closure, some tourists came to the island by speed-boats and trawlers on their own."
Saint Martin's union Awami League President Mujibur Rahman said, "The administration and locals took good care of the adventure-loving tourists who had been stranded."
