Indian Navy hands over 33 cyclone survivors to Bangladesh

A total of 33 Bangladeshis, who were rescued from the Bay of Bengal by Indian Navy a day after Cyclone Mora battered the country’s southeastern coast, were handed over to Bangladesh this morning.

Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla handed them over to Chittagong Deputy Commissioner (DC) Zillur Rahman at the Chittagong port around 7:30am.

DC Zillur also received the relief materials that the Indian government sent for the affected Bangladesh people.

Among the rescued Bangladeshis, a man was taken to Bangladesh Navy Hospital while others taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital around 10:00am.

High officials of Indian Navy and Bangladesh Navy were also present there.

Yesterday, the crew of Indian offshore patrol vessel INS Sumitra, spotted the survivors floating in the sea, according to a high official of Bangladesh foreign ministry.

They launched a rescue operation around 90 nautical miles south of Chittagong coast, Captain DK Sharma, spokesperson of the Indian navy, said in a Tweet.

In a message to the media outlets at 12:52pm yesterday, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said the survivors could be from a sunken boat or huts washed away into the sea during the cyclone.

So far 33 survivors from Maheshkhali were rescued and a body was recovered from the Bay of Bengal, it mentioned.

Source: thedailystar