DHAKA, 26 March 2005 — At least 24 fishermen are missing or dead after three trawlers, caught in strong winds and thunderstorm, capsized in the Bay of Bengal Thursday night.
Also two persons were killed raising the death toll to 23 from the storm that has swept the country during the last three days.
The Meteorological Department in Dhaka said yesterday that the tornado with thundershowers and lightning, which has lashed many parts of Bangladesh since Monday night, may continue for two more days.
“The intensity of the storm will not increase, but it may hit other parts of the country in the next two days,” Assistant Director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department Sujit Kumar Debsarma said.
A ‘low heat’, stretching from Orissa in eastern India over West Bengal and Bihar down to Bangladesh has caused tornados in the region, said the meteorologists.
Light to moderately heavy rainfall at many places was recorded during the last 24 hours. Significant rainfall was recorded — 102 mm in Sylhet, 29 mm in Chittagong, 46 mm in Dhaka, 46 mm in Barisal, 52 mm in Khulna and 8 mm in Rajshahi.
In southern Patuakhali district, three fishing trawlers with 24 fishermen were caught in a storm while fishing in the Bay of Bengal and their trawlers capsized, according to sources at Mahipur and Alipur fishing ports. All the fishermen are missing since Thursday evening.
More than three hundred thatched houses of Kolapara and Golachipa villages and coastal areas of the district, were damaged, forcing dozens of families to stay under the open sky.
The Deputy Commissioner of Patuakhali, Prashanto Barua, said he had no information about the sunken trawlers.
But he said strong winds with thunderbolts lashed the areas intermittently and the sky was still overcast with heavy cloud.
Elite Force Accused of Extortion
The first anniversary of an elite Bangladesh security force created to tackle rampant crime has been marred by an admission yesterday that two of its members extorted $13,000 from a cattle trader.
Two sergeants of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) “were caught red-handed by local people while they were fleeing after looting 780,000 taka ($13,000)” on Wednesday, the official BSS news agency said.
The theft had created “an embarrassing situation” for the force at a time when it was otherwise performing well, State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar was quoted by the news agency as saying.
