Nine Fishermen Found Dead After Missing Trawler Recovered Off Sundarbans, Search Continues for Six

Kolkata: A major search operation off the Sundarbans coast ended in tragedy after nine fishermen were found dead inside a fishing trawler that had gone missing earlier this month in the Bay of Bengal. Authorities are continuing efforts to trace six others who remain missing.

Officials said the sunken trawler, identified as 'FB Maa Kali', was located on Sunday in the Raktachar area near the Chulkathi forest in South 24 Parganas district during a joint operation involving the police, the Forest Department and the Indian Coast Guard. The vessel was later brought to Sitarampur under the jurisdiction of Gobardhanpur Police Station, where search teams recovered the bodies from inside the overturned trawler.

The vessel had departed from Shankarpur Fisheries Port in East Midnapore district on July 2 with 15 fishermen on board. Contact with the crew was reportedly lost after July 5, when the region experienced severe weather conditions.

Since then, a coordinated search operation involving the police, the Indian Coast Guard, the Forest Department and local fishermen's organisations had been underway under the supervision of Chitrak Bhattacharya, Deputy Field Director of the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve.

The bodies of the nine deceased fishermen have been sent to Kakdwip Sub-Divisional Hospital for post-mortem examination. Officials said the search for the remaining six missing fishermen resumed on Monday, with concerns that the death toll could rise.

Minister of State for Sundarban Affairs Dipankar Jana visited the recovery site after the trawler was brought ashore and reviewed the ongoing rescue and search efforts. He said the state government had been informed of the tragedy and that further administrative measures were being discussed.

The trawler was found overturned near the Chulkathi forest, about 35 kilometres off the Bakkhali coast in South 24 Parganas, before being towed to Sitarampur Ghat on Sunday evening. The discovery has cast a shadow over the coastal fishing community as authorities continue the operation to locate the remaining crew members.

With inputs from IANS