Andaman Chronicle, Jan 2, 2008

Written by Administrator
Jan 01, 2009 at 11:08 PM

Port Blair, Jan 1: Altogether 105 Bangladeshi survivors out of 412
have been traced by the investigating agencies. A total of 412
Bangladeshi migrants had gone missing in the Bay of Bengal on
December 25, 2008, off Little Andaman Islands, situated nearly 90 km
away from Port Blair city of Andaman. The report was received only
after one migrant was seen in the shores of Little Andaman.
In a telephonic interview with Andaman Chronicle, the Superintendent
of Police, South Andaman District, Mr. Ashok Chand said, apart from
the 105 survivors traced out, the A&N Police have recovered 4 dead
bodies of the migrants.
The migrants had sailed on a boat from Bangladesh's Cox's Bazaar
district for Malaysia but got drifted, according to the survivors who
have been held by the Police. They were floating on the sea for 12
days without sufficient food and water. When they see a lighthouse on
Andaman coast, they jumped into the sea in a bid to reach the shore.
The survivors, aged between 15 to 60 were in a state of trauma and
were suffering from dehydration when they were held by the
investigating agencies. They had no luggage and minimal clothing.
All the survivors have been sheltered in a campus and provided with
food, cloths and medicines.
"We are working in close coordination with the defence force and
coast guard", Ashok Chand said. Though search teams are losing hope
of finding any more living survivors, the Police Department is still
continuing the Search and Rescue Operation in the Little Andaman
Islands along with defence forces.