Eight missing Bengal fishermen found dead

5 Dariya News

Kolkata 17-Aug-2016

With three more bodies recovered, at least eight of the West Bengal fishermen who were reported missing in the Bay of Bengal last week, have been found dead, a state minister said on Wednesday."The bodies of three fishermen, who were aboard fishing trawler 'Prasenjit' that capsized, were fished out on Tuesday. So far eight of our fishermen have been found dead," Sundarbans Development Minister Manturam Pakhira said.All the dead fishermen were from Kakdwip area of South 24 Parganas district.The Coast Guard, which along with its Bangladeshi counterpart, has been carrying on search and rescue mission, on Sunday recovered bodies of five fishermen who were aboard fishing trawler 'Mahagauri' that too had capsized.

At least 22 trawlers with over 300 fishermen had been reported missing on August 8 after getting caught in storm and rough weather.While 20 of the boats along with over 260 fishermen were rescued and brought back, two of the trawlers -- 'Mahagauri' and 'Prasenjit' -- capsized.Pakhira said that at least 12 fishermen were still missing with the capsized boat 'Prasenjit' still to be located."Both the Indian and Bangladeshi Coast Guard are continuing the search operations. Thanks to their efforts, most of the fishermen and their boats have been rescued," added Pakhira.The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of each of the eight dead fishermen.