As many as four fishermen were reported missing following a massive storm that struck the Dumboor reservoir area in Tripura late on Saturday night. While the body of one of them was recovered, the others are feared to have drowned.
Officials identified the four fishermen as Hari Das (45), Pradip Das (46), Jyotish Mallik (50), and Sanjit Nandi (53). All of them are residents of MR Das Para in the Dhalai district of Tripura.
They had set out for a fishing trip on a boat at Dumboor Lake at around 9:30 pm on Saturday and went missing since, according to the officials.
The fishermen are thought to have taken shelter in a tent positioned in the middle of the lake. However, as the storm intensified, strong winds caused the area to be submerged leaving the fishermen struggling for their life.
The authorities recovered the body of one of them and subsequently launched search and rescue operations for the other three.
As per reports, the families of the fishermen were the ones to alert the authorities. They became worried after the fishermen did not return home after leaving for Dumboor Lake. The families went looking for them when they found the boat overturned which prompted them to alert the state police and Tripura State Rifles personnel.
In the wake of the tragedy, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha condoled the incident saying, "I am deeply saddened by the unfortunate incident of four fishermen missing in the storm at Dumboor reservoir. While one body has been recovered under the administration’s supervision, efforts are ongoing to locate the remaining three. The state government extends its full support to the affected families during this difficult time."
