Nine bodies recovered from trawler that went missing off Bengal coast; six fishermen missing

Nine bodies were recovered from a fishing trawler that went missing off the West Bengal coast almost 10 days ago. There were about 15 persons in the boat, six of whom are still untraceable.

The vessel, called Joy Maa Kali, sailed from Shankarpur in Purba Medinipur district and was recovered from the Sundarbans area of South 24 Parganas on Sunday (July 12, 2026).

“They left the coast on July 2, and then there was no contact with them. Connection was established with them on July 8 when they gave a distress call that their engine was not working and asked for help. Other fishermen were informed, but no one could find them. They were finally found in the Bakkhali area, far away from where they started,” Joy Krishna Haldar, general secretary of the United Fishermen Association of West Bengal, told The Hindu. He said the boat had turned turtle in a marshy mangrove forest.

Sources said the fishermen in the trawler were from Digha, Nadia, Howrah, East Medinipur in West Bengal, and Odisha. They said the sea was turbulent amid adverse weather conditions and heavy rain in the past two weeks.

The Coast Guard, the Indian Navy, the West Bengal Police, the State’s fire and forest departments, and other fishermen are conducting search operations. The nine decomposed bodies have been sent to Kakdwip Sub-Divisional Hospital for post-mortem.

“The boat-capsizing incident in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal resulting in loss of lives is extremely heartbreaking. I convey my condolences to the bereaved families. I wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on social media. He announced a compensation of ₹2 lakh each for the families of the deceased from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.

“Prima facie, the trawler was carrying 15 fishermen. It was capsized around a week ago. Today, the bodies of nine fishermen have been recovered. The rest are still missing. Rescue operation is underway,” Superintendent of Police, Sundarban Police District, Biswa Chand Thakur said.

Sundarbans Affairs Minister Dipankar Jana visited the spot on Sunday to oversee rescue operations. “The State government will stand by the families of the deceased fishermen, and financial assistance will be provided to the affected families,” he said.