Missing fishermen: Four more bodies found

Bodies of four more of the 19 missing fishermen of West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district were found in the Bay of Bengal today by rescuers, taking the total number of bodies recovered so far to six, officials said.

With the recovery of six bodies, search is on for the 13 missing fishermen, the officials said.

The Coast Guard, along with the police and a fishermen's association, is conducting search and rescue operations to find fishermen who had gone missing on Monday afternoon.

A Coast Guard official, who did not wish to be quoted, said Coast Guard Dornier aircraft spotted the four bodies today around 30 nautical miles off the Dalhousie island.

The trawlers of the fishermen's association went to the spot and retrieved the bodies after the Coast Guard conveyed to them the location of the bodies.

Five out of the six bodies have been identified and sent for postmortem, officials said.

Yesterday one of the missing boats was also sighted about 30 nautical miles south off Dalhousie island.

Three trawlers capsized in the rough seas around 4 pm on July 16 and 47 fishermen fell into the water, officials said adding that 28 of them were rescued by other trawlers.

The trawlers had overturned in the Bay of Bengal, off Frazerganj in the Sundarban area of south Bengal.

"Indian Coast Guard Dornier aircraft from Kolkata, a hovercraft from Frazergunj and Coast Guard Ship Sujoy inspite of inclement weather and rough seas carried out extensive search for missing fishermen off Sagar island," a Coast Guard statement said.

Secretary West Bengal United Fishermen Association Bijan Maity had earlier said six to seven trawlers carrying men from Namkhana and Kakdwip areas of South 24 Parganas district, set sail around 10 am on Monday as there was "no Met department warnings on radio".

The Met office website, however, showed that West Bengal fishermen were advised against venturing into the sea on Monday.

Although many trawlers returned to safety, three boats - FB Malleshwar, FB Joykishan and FB Maa Shibani - capsized in the sea.

Ten fishermen of FB Joykishan and six of FB Malleshwar, and three more of some other trawlers have gone missing, Maity said.