9 fishermen rescued from Sunderbans four days after trawler capsize

Forest Department officials have rescued nine fishermen of a trawler that capsized few days ago in extreme weather resulting from low-pressure in the Bay of Bengal.

They were rescued from Sodon Khali canal under Kagadobeki Forest Station in Sundarbans on Tuesday (23 August) afternoon. They swam to the forest after their fishing trawler MV Obaidul capsized in the Bay on 19 August.

The rescued fishermen are Hiru Majhi of Lalua village, Jalil Howladar of Salimpur village, Faruk Hawlader of Nilganj village, Md Feroz of Chinguria village, Md Karim Khan, Sabuj Howladar, Md Yusuf of Lalua village, Zahirul Mridha and Salim Howladar of Charipara village. All of them hail from Kalapara of Patuakhali. 

Md Ismail Hossain, officer-in-charge of Kagadobeki Station of West Sundarbans Forest Division said, "On Tuesday afternoon, regular patrolling was being carried out in Sodon Khali canal. At one point, some people were seen stranded and near-unconscious on the edge of the forest. A Coast Guard patrol was there at the same time. Later we jointly went to them and got the details of the incident." 

The rescued fishermen were given first aid and later handed over to the coast guard when they felt better.

Four other fishermen - Abbas Khan of Lalua village, Jewel Khan of Chandupara, Rakibul of Banati village and Dulal Howladar of Chinguria village, still remained missing from the capsized trawler. 

Citing the rescued fishermen, Ismail said, "13 fishermen had gone together for fishing in the sea. Two men could not get out of the trawler when it sank. The remaining 11 were surviving with the support of a float. One of them got separated from it by waves. Later another one also went missing."

At least 13 fishermen have died with around 50 fishing trawlers having capsized in the last five days.

Over 200 people have gone missing in these incidents, according to the Bangladesh Coast Guard.