India, July 13 -- In a significant development in the incident of a fishing trawler going missing off the West Bengal coast earlier this month, bodies of at least nine fishermen have been recovered, while efforts are on by authorities to trace six others

The trawler, carrying 15 fishermen, had left the Shankarpur Fish Landing Centre in West Bengal on July 2 for hilsa fishing. Contact with the crew was maintained until July 4, after which all communication with the vessel was lost.

After an extensive search, the trawler was traced near Rakhtachar Island, around 16 kilometres from Bakkhali, on Sunday. A joint team comprising police from Gobardhanpur police station in South 24 Parganas district, the Forest Department and the Indian Coast ...