Ten fishing trawlers drowned in the Meghna River in Hatiya island upazila of the district due to adverse weather conditions.

A total of 18 fishermen were rescued alive, but eight fishermen and five trawlers are still missing, officer-in-charge (Investigation) of Hatia Police Station Md Moniruzzaman said.

The sinking of the trawlers took place at some points of the Meghna River on Friday in the afternoon and in the evening, the OC said.

The names of the rescued and missing fishermen could not be known immediately.

The owners of the sunken trawlers are Babar Majhi, Jan Mia, Delwar Majhi, Helal Uddin, Shahid Majhi, Mehraj Majhi and Yunus Majhi.

According to the locals, several fishing trawlers went to the deep sea from different ghats of the upazila for fishing in the last few days. As the sea was rough, the trawlers started returning to the ghat from the afternoon. While returning, the trawlers were hit by stormy winds in hostile weather and 10 fishing trawlers sank at different times in the Meghna river estuary.

Other fishing trawlers nearby rescued some fishermen. But the fishing nets of the fishermen sank into the river along with the trawlers.

Besides, there are a few other trawlers in the Meghna River. There is no news about the trawlers yet. A person named Delwar Majhi is under treatment in the hospital with serious injuries.

Officer-in-charge (Investigation) of Hatia Police Station Md Monirzzaman said that the number of missing persons may increase.