india

Updated: Jul 14, 2019 06:31 IST

A West Bengal fisherman reached Kolkata on Saturday, days after he was rescued by a Bangladeshi vessel near Chittagong on July 10.

The fisherman, Rabindranath Das, survived in the Bay of Bengal with no food or drinking water for five days since the trawler he was travelling in capsized on July 6.

“I can only remember that I was floating. I had the life jacket tucked into my pants. I drank water when it rained,” he told mediapersons on Satutday.

The lack of food and continuous contact with brackish water has affected his health adversely.

Das, a resident of Narayanpur area in Kakdwip in South 24-Parganas district, about 88 km to the south of Kolkata, was on board trawler Nayan along with 14 other persons. Of these, Das said, 10 tried to stay afloat by holding on to a bamboo pole. However, he said, they all drowned.

“I am at a loss of words. We are ecstatic that he returned safely. My son and daughter are eagerly waiting to see their father,” said Banani, Das’ wife.

“Rabindranath returned to Kolkata on Saturday afternoon. We all are very happy. He is extremely weak and needs proper rest and treatment,” said Bijan Maity, secretary of Kakdwip Fishermen Association.

Das was handed over to the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh on Friday evening. He told his rescuers that he and his nephew Nimai were floating together even three hours before he was rescued on July 10.

“We were returning to Chittagong port after loading cargo at Dhamra in Odisha. Near Kutubdia, we noticed someone afloat and decided to rescue him. We first threw a life buoy that he could not cling on to. Then, we threw a life jacket that he managed to hold on to,” Shahzada Alam, a crew of the ship MV Jawad that rescued Das, told HT said over phone on Friday.