Trawlers with 640 fishermen missing in Bay of Bengal

Canning (WB): Forty trawlers, carrying 640 fishermen, have gone missing in the Bay of Bengal near Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district, an official of the Fishermen Association said on Monday.

The trawlers, each carrying 16 fishermen, had gone to the sea for fishing a few days ago, but contact between the liaison unit of the Association at Kakdwip and them was snapped during a storm last night, the state government aided Association's Secretary Jaykrishna Halder said.

Efforts are on to locate them and the Coast Guard has been alerted, Sunderban Development Minister Manturam Pakhira said.

Meanwhile, two other trawlers-'Suryanarayan' and 'Maharudra'- capsized near Jambu Dwip in the Bay of Bengal during the storm last evening.

Of the 32 fishermen on board, 25 were rescued and seven others are missing, Halder said. The rescued fishermen are being treated at a local hospital.

Five other trawlers set off from Raidighi in the same district managed to reach Dhamra Port in Odisha. All the fishermen were safe, he said.