Cyclone Bulbul: Bodies of missing nine fishermen recovered

Police have recovered the bodies of nine fishermen, who went missing in a trawler capsize in Meghna river during cyclone Bulbul yesterday.

The victims were identified as Belal, Kabir, Nazrul, Kamal, Abbas, Hasan, Rafiq, Nurunnabi and Mafij. They hailed from Abdullahpur village under Charfession upazila of Bhola district, said Kamal Chandra Dey, sub inspector of Mehendiganj Police Station in Barishal.

A police team along with Bangladesh coast guard members recovered the bodies from Bahadurpur-elisha point in the Meghna river under Mehendiganj upazila of Barishal district around 9:30pm, Shafiqul Islam, deputy inspector general of police (Barishal rage) told The Daily Star tonight.

All the bodies were found inside the sunken trawler, our Barishal correspondent reports quoting police.

The trawler carrying 24 fishermen capsized in the river around 11:30pm yesterday during the storm while they were returning to Charfesson of Bhola from Chandpur after selling hilsa fish, said Md Saiful Islam, superintendent of police in Barishal.

Of the fishermen, 14 managed to swim ashore while the body of one fisherman Khorshed Maji was recovered from Sreepur area on the same day, he said

Nine Fishermen remained missing since the trawler sank in the river yesterday, said the police official added.

Yesterday, at least 17 people were killed in different districts as cyclone ‘Bulbul’ lashed Khulna and adjoining southwestern part of the country before weakening into a deep depression.

Of the deaths, three were killed each in Khulna and Patuakhali while two each in Gopalganj, Shariatpur and Bagerhat and one each Barguna, Barishal, Bhola, Pirojpur and Madaripur districts.

However, Ayesha Akhter, assistant director of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), confirmed deaths of nine people during the cyclonic storm