Bangladesh rescues Lankan fishermen

A Bangladeshi fishing vessel rescued five Sri Lankan fishermen who had been drifting for weeks in the Bay of Bengal, police said on Saturday.

The Sri Lankans were rescued while they were drifting aimlessly in the sea aboard a damaged fishing boat.

"After treatment they are doing well now," Police Inspector A. Mohiuddin told Reuters.

They will be repatriated to Sri Lanka through the Foreign Ministry, the police officer said without giving details. The rescued fishermen said they were drifting in the sea for past several weeks without food and clean drinking water after their boat became disabled following a storm, probably Cyclone Nargis, Mohiuddin said. Cyclone Nargis, which devasted Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar early this month, churned across the Bay of Bengal for several days before making landfall.

Many fishermen from countries along the rim of the Bay of Bengal often go missing in storms. Reuters