The bodies of eight fishermen, missing after their boat capsized into the Bay of Bengal during a sudden tornado early on Saturday, were found trapped inside the sunken vessel.
The ninth fisherman was still missing till Sunday evening despite an aerial search by the Indian Coast Guard.
Following a strenuous 36-hour search operation, eight of the fishermen’s bodies were recovered on Sunday afternoon. The sunken boat was hauled to Ludhian Beach near Namkhana in South 24 Parganas, where divers located the bodies entangled in fishing nets inside the bottom cabin.
The recovered bodies were sent to Kakdwip Sub-divisional Hospital for autopsy and later handed over to the families on Sunday evening.
The ill-fated boat, MV Baba Govinda, had set sail from Kakdwip on September 18 with 17 fishermen onboard for deep-sea fishing. The vessel capsized around 2am on Saturday when a tornado hit, bringing with it fierce winds and turbulent seas.
In a desperate attempt to survive, eight of the 17 fishermen managed to jump into the sea and were rescued by nearby fishing boats.
Eight, tragically, were trapped inside as the vessel sank near Bagher Char island, about 60 kilometers from Bakkhali. Fellow fishermen suspected that the missing men had been asleep when the tornado hit, and their fears were confirmed when eight of the nine missing members were found inside the wreckage.
No one knows what happened to the last missing fisherman.
All through Saturday and Sunday, search efforts continued by five boats, fishermen, divers, district officials and the Indian Coast Guard.
Bijan Maiti, the general secretary of the West Bengal United Fishermen’s Association, expressed his sorrow over the deaths.
“This is a tragic incident. The tornado struck suddenly, and MV Baba Govinda was the only boat caught in the swirling winds among at least half a dozen others,” he said.
Surajit Bag, the assistant director of fishing (marine) at Diamond Harbour, added: “This is a disaster for the fishing community. We are verifying whether all victims had their fishermen’s registration cards under the state’s Samudra Sathi scheme to ensure they are eligible for compensation.”
The tragedy left the families of the deceased fishermen in anguish.
Safety questions
This incident also reignites concerns about the lack of modernisation and safety equipment on marine fishing boats.
A week ago, 49 fishermen aboard three boats went missing in turbulent weather, but all were rescued after being adrift for two to three days when lightning knocked out their GPS and communication systems.
An official from the state fisheries (marine) department commented on the safety challenges: “Our boats need to be equipped with modern navigation tools to handle sudden weather changes. The right navigation is crucial for safety, but there is no official mechanism to enforce the employment of skilled pilots. Over the past five years, around 160 fishermen have died or gone missing at sea due to accidents or bad weather, though the exact causes often remain unclear.”
On July 11, 2021, in a similar incident, nine fishermen were killed as they were trapped inside a boat (MV Haimavati) that drowned in the sea near Frasergunj in South 24 Parganas as it capsized while returning to shore apparently after it had dashed a hidden alluvial land (char land) surfaced un under water.
