Angry relatives fret over victims of trawler capsize

Sohag Hossain and Babul Khan were waiting outside Bengal Fisheries office at Chittagong’s Banglabazar pier on Friday for information on their brothers who went missing after a fishing trawler capsized.

Hossain’s younger brother Rabiul Ahsan and Babul’s elder brother Mokhlesur Rahman were among the 29 fishermen and crew in the ill-fated trawler when it sank in the early hours of Friday.

‘FB Bandhan’, owned by Bengal Fisheries, capsized off the coast near the St Martin’s Island at Cox’s Bazar after being allegedly hit by a ship.

Coast Guard’s Lt Commander Fazlul Karim said Bangladesh Navy found one dead and pulled two out of the waters 30 nautical miles south-west of the island, while 26 more remained unaccounted-for.

The dead was identified as Nasir Fakir, 35.

Relatives of the fishermen and crew rushed to Bengal Fisheries office -- with some taking photos of the victims -- on news of the accident.

Some were frantically trying to contact their missing relatives over mobile phones.

They had tough luck until Friday afternoon: worse still, there was no Bengal Fisheries owner to speak to.

Sohag Hossain said Rabiul Khan, hailing from Gantabyapur under Habiganj of Pirojpur, joined the trawler job three months ago.

Their elder brother Md Selim works in another trawler owned by Bengal Fisheries.

Hossain said FB Bandhan left Chittagong on Nov 17 and that he had talked to Khan once on Thursday night but since then there was no news about him.

“I’ve come here to talk to the owners after I heard (about the incident) from my elder brother Selim,” he said.

He, too, ran into a dead end.

Mokhlesur Rahman’s younger brother Babul was angry at not finding any of the owners.

The Department of Shipping has formed a three-member investigation committee, headed by ASM Sirajul Islam, to submit a report in five working days.