Barguna, Sept 12 (V7N) – Fourteen fishermen were rescued alive after a fishing trawler sank in the Bay of Bengal off Barguna’s Taltali upazila on Thursday evening after being hit by powerful waves while returning to shore amid rough sea conditions.
The trawler, named FB Mayer Doa, sank about 12 kilometres off the Fakirhat area of Taltali at around 7pm on September 10. All 14 fishermen on board were rescued, but the sunken trawler has yet to be located.
Of the rescued fishermen, 13 are residents of Taltali upazila, while the remaining fisherman is from Satkhira district.
Taltali Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Atish Sarker confirmed the incident.
According to local sources, the trawler, owned by Jafar Mia of Nidra area in Taltali, left for the sea on Wednesday carrying 14 fishermen to catch fish.
As weather conditions deteriorated on Thursday and the sea became increasingly rough, the fishermen began returning to the coast. When the trawler reached a point about 12 kilometres off Fakirhat, it was overturned and sank after being struck by strong waves.
After receiving news of the accident, fishermen from the Fakirhat Fish Landing Centre immediately launched a rescue operation. At around 10pm, all 14 fishermen were rescued from the sea with the assistance of another fishing trawler operated by Selim Majhi.
The rescued fishermen were taken aboard the rescue trawler and are currently in a safe condition. However, they have not yet returned to shore due to the rough sea.
Raju Mia, the skipper of the rescuing trawler, said by phone that they rushed to the area after receiving the alert and rescued all 14 fishermen, who were found floating in the sea, at around 10pm.
“We quickly reached the site after receiving the news and rescued all 14 fishermen alive from the sea at around 10pm. However, we could not recover the sunken trawler because the sea remained rough,” he said.
Mohammad Mujibur Farazi, president of the Fishermen’s Trawler Owners’ Association at the Fakirhat Fish Landing Centre, said the trawler sank while returning to the landing centre as the sea became rough.
“As soon as we received the news, we sent fishing trawlers from the landing centre to the area and rescued all the fishermen,” he said.
UNO Atish Sarker said there had been no casualties in the incident.
“All the fishermen are currently safe aboard the rescue trawler in the Bay of Bengal, and efforts are underway to bring them back to shore as soon as possible,” he said.
He added that the upazila administration would provide the rescued fishermen with dry food and rice as part of its assistance.
END/MRR/SMA/
