Indian trawler tragedy: 2 Indian fishermen rescued, 10 still missing

The naval and coast guard rescuers found five bodies from the area to the south of the huge Sundarbans mangrove forest.

Bangladeshi and Indian rescuers have found five bodies and rescued two people alive from the Bay of Bengal on Sunday after the Indian trawler capsized the previous day with at least 17 people on board.

Authorities are searching for 10 other people who are still missing.

"So far two fishermen were rescued alive and we recovered five bodies," Tapushi Rabeya, a Bangladesh defence ministry spokesperson, told AFP.

The authorities have deployed two Bangladesh naval ships, three coast guard speedboats and a maritime patrol plane in the search operation.

"Indian coastguards and patrol aircraft have also joined us in the rescue mission," a senior naval officer said.

"The sunken vessel has been located and the Bangladeshi and Indian rescue teams were trying to salvage it. But the rescue efforts have been hampered by very rough seas," he added.

The Indian trawler sent out a distress signal in rough seas on Saturday. The trawler was at a distance of about 40 nautical miles (70 kilometres) south of Hiron Point, a docking station in the Sundarbans.

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