Five fishermen, who were missing after their trawler capsized in the Bay of Bengal on Friday morning, were rescued early on Saturday from a forest area adjacent to a creek near Kendua island in South 24-Parganas.

Eighteen fishermen had gone missing on Friday morning after their trawler, MV Satyanarayan, capsized 20 km off the island after having dashed against alluvial land that could not be seen in the turbulent sea.

However, despite bad weather, 13 out of the 18 fishermen were rescued by a Bangladeshi trawler on Friday evening , and were handed over to the Indian authorities. On Saturday, the remaining five fishermen were eventually found inside a reserve forest adjacent to a creek.

Additional director of fisheries (marine), Piyal Sardar, said: “Five missing fishermen have been found alive near the jungle of Kendua Island. It is great news indeed for us.”

The fishermen were brought to Kakdwip and examined at the sub-divisional hospital. “It is like getting a new lease on life.... The life jackets kept us floating so we survived the choppy sea for over 10 hours,” a fisherman said.

Bangla fishermen Eleven Bangladeshi fishermen were rescued by their Indian counterparts after their boat capsized in Bay of Bengal on Friday. Sources in Kakdwip-Raidighi said early on Saturday the Bangladeshi fishermen were found inside Indian territory of the sea area.

Trawler MV Malavika rescued them and brought them to Raidighi where they were handed over to police. Fishermen said they went fishing aboard the MV Swadhin from Patuakhali-Mohipur fishing harbour on August 16. “Our fishermen saved them taking a big risk in the turbulent sea. We arranged their meals with permission from police,” a Raidighi fisherman said.