One fisherman rescued by Bangladesh vessel; 24 still missing

A fisherman who was among the 25 missing after venturing into the Bay of Bengal last week, has been rescued by a vessel in Bangladesh, a West Bengal minister said Thursday. The fisherman identified as Rabindra Nath Das was on Wednesday found floating in deep waters by the vessel, that was returning to Bangladesh from Myanmar, Sundarban Development Minister Manturam Pakhira said.

With this, 50 fishermen have been rescued since Saturday. Das, who was wearing a life jacket, was rescued and admitted to a hospital in Chittagong, West Bengal United Fishermen Association, Bijon Maity, said on the basis of information received from the hospital in Bangladesh.

"Despite a directive from the state government, fishermen are often reluctant to wear life jackets. If they take this precaution, marine accidents could be minimised," the minister said. Das was on board FB Nayan, the whereabouts of which are yet to be known. Fifteen fishermen from the trawler are still missing, Maity said.

The fishermen had started from Namkhana in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on four trawlers - FB Nayan, FB Dashabhuja, FB Babaji and FB Joy Jogiraj - on Thursday, without paying heed to the warning of authorities. Nine fishermen from FB Dashabhuja are also missing, Maity said.

Six fishermen of FB Dashabhuja had been rescued by fishermen in Haribhanga islet of Bangladesh and they were brought to Kakdwip on Monday morning, Maity had said. Fifteen fishermen each from FB Joyjogiraj and FB Babaji had also been rescued.

Thirteen other fishermen on another boat, which had developed a snag and drifted into the Bangladesh waters due to inclement weather, were rescued by the coast guards of India and the neighbouring country in a coordinated operation on Saturday..