Tourists stranded on Saint Martin’s Island reach Teknaf

Around 160 tourists, who were stranded on Saint Martin’s Island due to adverse weather, have returned to mainland.

Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Shafiul Alam said on Saturday that a group of stranded tourists had returned to the mainland in trawlers and speedboats in the morning.

However, around 30 tourists were still on the island, Alam said.

Teknaf police OC Md Abdul Majid had said on Friday that traffic on the Teknaf-Saint Martin’s route had remained suspended since Friday morning after the Met Office issued cautionary signal No 3 following a depression in the Bay of Bengal area.

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

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.

UNO Alam told bdnews24.com the tourists were asked to stay at the island as no water vessels left the Teknaf jetty even after the signal was taken back in the morning.

“Many tourists returned to Teknaf on their own account by renting speedboats and trawlers,” he said.

Cox’s Bazar Met official AKM Nazmul Haque said, the sea route was safe now as the cautionary signal had been lifted around 9am.

Tourist vessel Keari Sindbad’s manager Md Shah Alam said, their vessel did not leave for Saint Martin’s, as the authorities were yet to take a decision.

Saint Martin’s Union Parishad Chairman Nur Ahmed said on Friday 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.