Nine fishermen were discovered deceased after a fishing trawler that had gone missing earlier this month was located in the Bay of Bengal near the Sundarbans in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district. The vessel, named ‘FB Maa Kali,’ had departed from the Shankarpur Fisheries Port with 15 fishermen on board but lost communication on July 5 due to adverse weather conditions. Six fishermen are still missing.
Authorities, including the police, Forest Department, and Indian Coast Guard, found the sunken trawler in the Raktachar area near the Chulkathi forest. The bodies of the deceased fishermen were found inside the vessel during a search operation. The recovered bodies have been sent for postmortem examination, while efforts are ongoing to locate the missing fishermen.
Minister of State for Sundarban Affairs Dipankar Jana visited the trawler after it was brought ashore and oversaw the search operation. A joint search effort involving various agencies is underway to find the remaining missing fishermen. There are concerns that the death toll may increase as the search continues.
