Indian Coast Guard rescues 20 Bangladeshi fishermen after Sitrang landfall

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) rescued 20 Bangladeshi fishermen from the sea after the cyclone Sitrang landfall in the country. The ICG in a social media post said that the fishermen were rescued from the sea on October 25 in a coordinated search and rescue operation.

The Bangladeshi fishermen were sighted by a Coast Guard Dornier Aircraft which was on a surveillance sorti after the cyclone Sitrang landfall. They were near the Indo-Bangladesh International Maritime Border Line, about 90 nautical miles from Sagar Island in West Bengal. The fishermen were clinging to the floats and debris floating in the sea after their fishing boat sank.

The fishermen will be handed over to Bangladesh in accordance with the existing MoU between the two countries, said ICG.

Cyclone Sitrang started crossing the Bangladesh coast on the night of October 24 and it crossed the country by the afternoon of Tuesday. More than a million people were evacuated to safety by the government during the cyclone period. However, according to State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Md Enamur Rahman, 12 people died and more than 10,000 homes, 6000 hectares of cropland and 1,000 fishing enclosures were damaged due to the cyclone. Power supply to more than 8 million people was affected due to the Cyclone.