The bodies of seven fortune seekers, who went missing after an overcrowded fishing trawler, carrying Malaysia-bound illegal migrants, capsized in the Bay of Bengal on Thursday, have been recovered on Friday.
Earlier in the day, the coast guard claimed that eight bodies were recovered, however, later they confirmed about recovery of seven bodies.
Kutubdia police station Officer-in-Charge Onshu Thoay told the Dhaka Tribune that a joint team of Navy, Coast Guard and local rescuers recovered the bodies around 12 noon.
Coast Guard Public Relation Officer Lt Commander M Rajibul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune: "We have pulled the bodies out after searching the rescued trawler and the areas around the point where the trawler sank."
At least 38 people went missing after an overcrowded fishing trawler, carrying Malaysia-bound illegal migrants, capsized in the Kutubdia channel of the Bay of Bengal in the early hours of Thursday.
Rescuers managed to bring ashore 42 people alive including six suspected human traffickers, while later in the day the sunken vessel was also located and dragged towards the shores of Kutubdia island.
Although it is common for a large number of people to seek illegal passage to Malaysia through marine routes from Chittagong every year, such large scale accidents at sea are uncommon in the bay.
Receiving the information, Coast Guard ships Towhid and Tanvir along with four metal shark boats, and Bangladesh Navy ships Oporajeyo and Otondro rushed to the spot.
The rescue teams later traced the trawler at around 3pm Thursday and brought it near the shore of Kutubdia island an hour later.
As of filing this report at 3pm Friday, rescue efforts were still going on at the site of the trawler capsize.
