Bodies of five missing fishermen found in Bengal

The bodies of five fisherman who went missing after their trawler capsized near the Bay of Bengal in West Bengal's South 24-Parganas, were recovered while search for two other fishermen continues, an official said Tuesday.

The trawler with 10 fishermen on board capsized Dec 12 near Kendo island in the Sunderbans, after it was caught in a storm. While three of the fishermen were rescued, seven went missing.

"Since last evening (Monday) we have fished out five bodies so far. The bodies have been brought to Diamond Harbour and after the legal formalities, they will be handed over to their families," West Bengal United Fishermen Association president Joykrishna Haldar told IANS.

Haldar, who has been supervising the search operations, accused the Coast Guard of non-cooperation.

"Though they have been conducting search operations, if the Coast Guard had been cooperative, by today we could have fished out all the bodies," he said.

"Unless the bodies are found, the families are unable to seek any kind of compensation from the government," he added.

Earlier in August, a trawler capsized in the Bay of Bengal, killing seven fishermen.

--Indo- Asian News Service

and/sd/vt