South 24 Paragnas, 16 December (H.S.): Eleven of the 16 fishermen aboard an Indian fishing trawler that sank after a collision with a Bangladeshi naval vessel have been rescued. However, five fishermen are still missing, and a search operation is underway.

Satinath Patra, secretary of the Sundarbans Fishermen's Association, alleged that the Bangladeshi Coast Guard vessel, with its lights off, approached at high speed, collided with the trawler, and then returned to Bangladeshi waters without conducting any rescue operation after the accident.

One of the missing fishermen is Rakhal Das. Rakhal Das's daughter, Roti Poddar, said, I last spoke to my father on Saturday. I received news of the accident afterward. Although 11 people have been rescued, my father is still missing. We are very worried.

Notably, on Monday morning, a Bangladeshi naval vessel, after entering Indian territorial waters, collided with a fishing trawler from Kakdwip. There were a total of 16 fishermen on board the trawler. The trawler sank due to the collision. The fishermen were somehow managing to stay afloat in the sea. Eventually, 11 fishermen were rescued. On Tuesday morning, these 11 men were brought to Narayanpur Ghat in Namkhana, South 24 Parganas. They then received first aid. However, five are still missing in the incident. The search for them continues. The Indian Coast Guard is conducting a search operation in the deep sea on Tuesday as well.

A search is underway in a wide area of Indian territorial waters to locate the missing fishermen.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey