More than 100 Bangladeshi fishermen were missing after at least 15 fishing boats sank in a storm in the Bay of Bengal, witnesses and officials said today.
The Chittagong port authority issued an international maritime alert advising all ships and fishing boats to remain in shelters until further notice, said Syed Farhad Uddin, the secretary of Chittagong port. Bangladesh's meteorological department said in a special weather bulletin that the monsoonal deep depression, which hit the Bay of Bengal on Thursday night, was moving north-north-west and had reached India's eastern coastal state of Orissa. "Maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Mongla have been advised to keep the local warning signal hoisted," the bulletin said. The latest bulletin said the monsoonal low had crossed the Indian coast near Paradeep on Sunday and the weather system was now over Orissa and adjoining areas. "It is likely to move in a north-north-westerly direction further inland and weaken gradually by giving precipitation," the bulletin said. It said squally weather might affect the ports of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Mongla. Flooding was reported in Orissa and the neighbouring state of West Bengal, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people living in low-lying areas, including in the city of Kolkata.
