Rough sea leaves over 100 tourists stranded on Saint Martin’s Island

Choppy weather has cut off Saint Martin’s Island from the mainland, leaving more than 100 tourists stranded there.

Teknaf police OC Md Abdul Majid said traffic on the Teknaf-Saint Martin’s water route remained suspended since Friday morning after the Met office issued cautionary signal No. 3 following a low developed in the Bay of Bengal.

The tourists who spent Thursday night on the island could not return, he said.

Majid said the island’s police outpost has been told to look after the tourists.

The picturesque coral island, located 5 km off Teknaf, is popular with both foreign and local tourists. However, the only way to reach the island is by sea.

The Met office earlier on Friday advised the hoisting of the cautionary signal at all seaports and coastal areas in the country.

Fishing boats and trawlers were also asked to stay close to the shore until further notice.

Manager Md Shah Alam of Keari Sindbad, a tourist ship, said those stranded would be brought back once the weather became normal.

Saint Martin’s Union Parishad Chairman Nur Ahmed said more than 1,000 tourists had come to the island on Thursday. Most of them returned in the afternoon the same day, but over 100 stayed back to spend the night.

The stranded tourists, staying in cottages and hotels, were safe, he added.