Trawler Capsize: Death toll hits 10

The bodies of four more fishermen, who were aboard a fishing vessel that capsized in the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday, have washed up on the shore in Cox’s Bazar.

Police recovered the bodies from Hoanak and Himchhari points of Maheshkhali yesterday after being informed by locals, said Farid Uddin Khandaker, officer-in-charge of Cox’s Bazar Sadar Model Police Station.

The deceased could not be identified immediately as the bodies were in almost decomposed state, he told this paper. 

A trawler with 14 fishermen on board capsized in the Bay amid inclement weather on Wednesday. Six bodies were recovered from the Sea-Gull Point of Cox’s Bazar while two were rescued alive the same day. 

The number of fatalities in the incident now stands at 10. 

Condition of the survivors -- Jewel, 25, and Monir Ahmed, 55 – was improving, doctors at the Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital told this correspondent yesterday. 

Owner of the trawler, Mintu, also a relative of Jewel, said some 14 fishermen had set sail to fish in the Bay with his trawler on July 8. 

His boat was not registered with the Department of Shipping, said Mintu, a resident of Bhola’s Char Fasson.

The government bans fishing every year in the Bay of Bengal for 65 days from May 20 to July 13 to preserve fish stock and ensure proper breeding. 

The fishermen had gone to the sea defying the ban.