5 dead as boats sink off Cox's Bazar; 500 fishermen missing

Launch services suspenced on Barisal routes because of inclement weather.

Cox's Bazar, Sep 14 – At least five individuals died and more than 500 fishermen remain missing after several fishing boats capsized during inclement weather in the Bay of Bengal on Friday afternoon and Saturday.

On Saturday (14th September) around 3 PM, two bodies were recovered from Inani. However, their identities could not be immediately confirmed, according to Beach Worker In-Charge Mahbub.

He stated that two bodies were found floating along with the tidal water at Inani Patowar Tek Beach. Their identities remain unknown. One body was recovered earlier from the city’s Samiti Para. Another body was recovered from Inani on Friday afternoon. They may possibly be some of the missing fishermen.

On Friday, 13th September, a fishing boat named FB Rashida, with 23 fishermen, sank in the Bay of Bengal near Labbani Point in Cox's Bazar city due to a storm. One fisherman named Jamal died. While 19 people were rescued alive, three fishermen are still missing.

Cox's Bazar Additional District Magistrate Ataul Gani Osmani said that in the past two days, three bodies were recovered from Inani, one from Kolatali, and one from Samiti Para.

These 5 bodies were found floating in the sea, he added.

Meanwhile, due to adverse weather, 13 fishing boats carrying over 500 fishermen have not been able to return to the coast. It hasn't been possible to establish contact with any of them hence they are listed as missing. 

Cox's Bazar Fishing Boat Owners Association General Secretary Delwar Hossain confirmed this information.

The missing boats are: FB Hasan, FB Abshar, FB Sabit, FB Ma'er Dua, FB Kaiser, FB Abdul Malek Ek Dui, FB Akhi, FB Tahsin, FB Babul, FB Nasir, FB Selim, FB Nazir, and FB Joni.

General Secretary Delwar Hossain informed that continuous rainfall has been occurring on the Cox's Bazar coast since Wednesday. Due to the rain, fishermen were returning to the coast. Many boats lost control and drifted away. Among them, 8 boats have drifted to Kolatali and Inani Patowartek points in Ukhiya. From there, over 300 fishermen were rescued alive.

He further mentioned that there is no communication with the 13 fishing boats. There is no phone contact or any way to connect with the over 500 fishermen on these boats. Therefore, they are also still missing.

Meanwhile, six people of two families were killed in separate landslides triggered by relentless rain in Cox's Bazar Sadar upazila and at a Rohingya camp in Ukhiya upazila early Friday.

In Barisal the movement of launches less than 65 feet in length on ten internal routes of Barishal has been suspended due to adverse weather conditions.

The launch operations remained suspended from 4:30pm on Saturday, said Abdur Razzak, an official of Barishal Naval Port.

The decision will remain effective until further notice, he added.

However, BIWTA said that no decision has been taken to stop the movement of large launches on the Dhaka-Barishal route.

Abdul Quddus, senior observer of Barishal Meteorological Office, said that due to adverse weather, the sea port has been asked to show warning signal No. 3 and Barishal sea port No. 2.

The local met office recorded 140.70 mm rainfall on Friday and Saturday due to low pressure over Bay of Bengal, he said, adding that the wind speed is 10-15 nautical miles per hour.

This rain may continue for the next 2-3 days, he said. - UNB