Trawler capsize: Search operations continue for missing fishermen in Bay of Bengal

Kolkata, Jul 14 (PTI) Extensive search operations for the six missing fishermen continued on Tuesday in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, where the trawler in which they went into the sea earlier this month was recovered, a senior state government official said. The bodies of nine fishermen had been found in the trawler, but those were too decomposed to identify. The six missing fishermen, along with nine others, had sailed from the Shankarpur fishing harbour in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal on July 2. Contact with the vessel, 'Joy Ma Kali', was lost on July 6. "Searches for the missing fishermen are being conducted in the waters as well as in the nearby inland canals in case they were carried there by the waves," the official told PTI. The process of establishing the identities of the recovered bodies was also underway, he said. "The process of collecting DNA samples will begin soon. We have contacted the family members of all those who travelled in the trawler that day," he said. The Prime Minister's Office on Monday announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured. It is suspected that the trawler might have capsized after encountering rough weather at sea, though the exact cause will be established after an inquiry. The submerged trawler was located on Saturday near Bagher Char, around 35 km off the Bakkhali coast, by the police and the Indian Coast Guard. Initially, 16 people were scheduled to go fishing on the trawler, but one of them did not go for some reason. Among those missing are three brothers from Odisha's Balasore district. The trio had travelled to Shankarpur for fishing work, as they had done on several earlier occasions. The remaining deceased and missing fishermen belong to Purba Medinipur, Howrah and Nadia districts. PTI SCH NN