Bodies of seven missing Bangladeshi fishermen found in India

Local fishermen from India's West Bengal have found a sinking trawler with seven dead fishermen inside.

The boat, FB Nur Alam, and the men had gone missing from Hatia on Aug 17 when their vessel got caught in a storm in the Bay of Bengal.

There were 17 fishermen in all. They hailed from Noakhali.

Hatia Jahajmara Fishing Boat Owner's Association General Secretary and local Union Council Member Khokan Uddin said that fishermen from Pathar Pratima Police Station area had sighted the sunken vessel near 24 Parganas in West Bengal.

After recovering the seven bodies from the trawler, they alerted Hatia Fishing Boat Owner's Association.

Khokan said the pictures of the boat provided by the fishermen helped them identify the vessel as the missing boat.

A General Diary (GD) was also lodged at Hatia Police Station on Aug 21 after the trawler went missing.

Pathar Pratima police SI Moinul Hoque told bdnews24.com over phone that on Tuesday the bodies were found inside the half-sunk boat after it was towed to the shore.

The bodies were then sent to Kolkata Medical College Hospital for autopsy, he said.

Jahajmara Union Council Chairman Masum Billah said the rest of the fishermen and the boatmen are still without a trace.

Hatia police OC Golam Faruk said that the names of the missing fishermen were mentioned in the GD.

They are Jafar Majhi, Md Rashed, Tajul Islam, Md Didar, Md Miraj, 'Swapan', 'Farhad', Jahir Uddin, Monir Uddin, Miraj Uddin, Mehraj Uddin, 'Sohel', Salauddin, 'Roman', 'Riaz', 'Nishan' and Enayet Hossain.