Trawler capsized following turbulence: rescued passengers

As the death toll in the maritime accident mounts, survivor accounts have begun to trickle in, aiding investigators in piecing together the circumstances of the accident

Kolkata:Traumatised Mishba Khatun (left) who miraculously survived in the tragic boat accident at the delta of river Hooghly in West Bengal, coming back home with her relative at Anandapur village in South 24 Parganas district on Sunday. She lost all her relatives traveling with her. With the retrieval of two more bodies today, the toll in the trawler capsize tragedy near Talpatty island in the Hooghly river at the confluence of the Bay of Bengal, has risen to 20. Several passengers are still missing and rescue teams are trying to locate them. The overloaded trawler with pilgrims was returning to Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas from Hijli Sharif, opposite Sagar Island, in East Midnapore district, when it capsized and sank after hitting a sandbar, yesterday. A small aircraft of the Coast Guard was circling over the area where the trawler sank, while divers, eight each from the Kolkata Port Trust and the Navy with echo sounding machines, were trying to ascertain the exact spot where the trawler went down. Speedboats of the Civil Defence Department besides hovercraft of the Coast Guard were scouring the waters. Team of the disaster management force was also working at the tragic incident.Angry villagers from Kakdwip blocked National Highway-117 to protest against eight bodies being taken to the Diamond Harbour Hospital instead of the Kakdwip Hospital. Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury/Kolkata.

Turbulence caused by waves after two ships passed the overcrowded trawler resulted in it capsizing in the Hooghly, rescued passengers said today.

Three passengers - Anwara, Manowara and Shanwara - who were rescued by local boatmen after yesterday’s incident told reporters at their home in Anandnagar in South 24 Parganas district that they clung to planks after the trawler sank.

A total of 27 members of Mahmood Ali Lashkar’s family had boarded the trawler to visit Maash Nadiala’s Dargah in neighbouring East Midnapore district and were returning when the vessel sank, they said.

Of the 27, 16 are still missing, eight returned home, while the bodies of a female member was found yesterday and two children today, they said.