Four fishing trawlers sink in Bhola, go missing in 47 jails

Four fishing trawlers of Bhola with 60 majhi-mallas drowned after being hit by the storm in the deep Bay of Bengal. Of them, 13 were rescued from the other three trawlers floating, but 47 fishermen are still missing.

Confirming the incident, Lalmohan Upazila Marine Fisheries Officer Tanvir Ahmed said that the trawler of Harun-or-Rashid Faruk Majhi of Batir Canal area of Lalmohan upazila of Bhola, the trawler of Nuruddin Majhi of Lord Hardinge Burirdone area and the troller of Nazim Uddin Majhi of Gaitta area were submerged in the Cox’s Bazar Fishing Ground area of the Bay of Bengal late on Friday night.

At that time, 13 fishermen were rescued alive by the fishermen in the vicinity, but 47 fishermen are still missing. The owners of these trawlers confirmed the sinking of four trawlers on Saturday afternoon. After receiving the news, arrangements have been made to bring back the rescued fishermen safely. A search is on for the missing fishermen, he said. Harun-or-Rashid Faruk, the owner of the sinking trawler, said that on August 17, his trawler went to the deep sea with 13 majhi mallas from Batirkhal Ghat. The boat suddenly sank in the deep sea after being hit by a storm around 10pm on Friday.

Although the fishermen could not be found, on Saturday morning, he came to know on the phone from the Sundarbans area that eight fishermen had been rescued with the help of two other trawlers. They are in the Sundarbans area. The owner of the trawler said that no trace of the remaining five people has been found yet. The missing fishermen of his trawler are; Abdul Motaleb, Abul Kalam, Arif, Nirab and Maksud. On the other hand, five people of the remaining three sinking trawlers of Lord Hardinge area have been rescued and kept in Hatia of Noakhali. Upazila Parishad Chairman Abul Kashem Miah said the remaining 42 jails are yet to be traced.