Kolkata-bound ship catches fire in Bay of Bengal, 5 feared dead

Five persons were feared dead in a blaze on board a merchant ship some 150 nautical miles from the Sandheads in the Bay of Bengal. Ten other...

Five persons were feared dead in a blaze on board a merchant ship some 150 nautical miles from the Sandheads in the Bay of Bengal. Ten others trapped in the ship have been rescued by the Coast Guard.

M V Faiz of the T T Shipping Pvt Ltd, which set out from Yangon for Kolkata, went missing yesterday. Alerted by the company, the Coast Guard located the ship this afternoon.

‘‘We were conducting aerial search operations since morning and found the ship 150 miles south-east of Sandheads, off the coast of West Bengal,’’ said Coast Guard officials.

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‘‘When we found the ship, it was on fire. We rescued 10 of the 15 on board,’’ said Commandant G S Majithia of the Coast Guard.

‘‘Though our rescue teams, still in the area, have reported that the other five perished in the fire, we will look for possible survivors again in the morning. The 10 whom we rescued will be taken either to Haldia or Paradip,’’ he said.

Coast Guard ship Chandbibi and a Dornier aircraft are carrying out search and rescue missions.

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