Bengal trawler mishap toll rises to 41

Sixteen more bodies were found during search operations on Monday, taking the toll to 41 in the trawler capsize mishap near Talpatty island in the Hooghly river in South 24 Parganas district.

"Sixteen more bodies were recovered, but the toll is likely to rise as there is a possibility of recovering more bodies," said South 24 Parganas District Magistrate N S Nigam. Local people found two bodies at Nayachar in East Midnapore which had been swept 20 km away, South 24 Parganas Additional District Magistrate Nilanjan Sandliya said. Two bodies were recovered by the Coast Guard from near Ghoramara where the trawler was drowned on October 30, he said.

Meanwhile, a six member team of divers from Andhra Pradesh reached Kakdwip and is likely to join the search operations, Nigam said. The Coast Guard, personnel of the Kolkata Port Trust and a 40-member team of the state disaster management force began operations from Monday morning with hovercraft and speedboats.

The trawler, which was sailing from Hijli Sharif in East Midnapore district to Kakdwip in South Parganas when it capsized and sank on Saturday, was located on Sunday by personnel of the Kolkata Port Trust and the Coast Guards using echo sounding equipment. Of the passengers on board, 50 persons were rescued on Sunday.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee met the victims at the Kakdwip Hospital on Sunday.