Kolkata: Nine bodies were recovered on Sunday from a fishing trawler that capsized in the Bay of Bengal around a week ago. Six fishermen are still untraced. Coast Guard and state agencies are carrying out search operations.The trawler, Joy Ma Kali, sailed from Shankarpur in East Midnapore with 15 fishermen on board in the first week of July. Contact with the vessel was lost on July 5 amid adverse weather. The forecast of bad weather during the period had prompted the authorities to advise fishing vessels operating in deep sea to return to shore.Indian Coast Guard finally traced the trawler on Sunday near Bulcheri island, close to Rakta Dwiper Char, a submerged sandbar that has been responsible for many maritime accidents. The spot is about 30 nautical miles from Bakkhali in South 24 Parganas.A low-flying Dornier surveillance aircraft operated by Coast Guard played a key role in locating the vessel. Police, forest department and local fishermen, too, joined the search operation.The trawler was towed to Sitarampur in Patharpratima, where rescue teams pumped out water from the vessel before recovering nine bodies from inside. Six fishermen are still missing. Preliminary findings suggest that some of the fishermen were swept away.Officials, assisted by police personnel, forest department staff and local fishermen, thoroughly searched the trawler, inspecting every compartment and fishing net to ensure no one remained trapped inside. The bodies have been sent to Kakdwip Sub-Divisional Hospital for post-mortem.An official said the bodies are in an advanced state of decomposition, making visual identification impossible. “The bodies will be identified through DNA testing. They will be kept in a morgue until the identification process is over,” the official said.Sundarban affairs minister Dipankar Jana visited Sitarampur on Sunday night to supervise the rescue operation. He said chief minister Suvendu Adhikari was informed about the tragedy and that discussions were on to expand the search.Satinath Patra, secretary of a local fishing organisation, said the crew were unfamiliar with the dangers lurking on the stretch of the sea where the accident occurred. “The accident is believed to have occurred near Rakta Dwiper Char, a highly dangerous submerged sandbar responsible for several accidents. The crew may not have been aware of the hidden hazard,” he said.Swadesh Ranjan Nayek, secretary of Shankarpur Fishermen’s Association, said the 15 fishermen included three from Digha, two from Nadia, one from Howrah and the rest from Ramnagar block in East Midnapore. Authorities said efforts to locate the six missing fishermen would continue until all possibilities were exhausted.
