Rabindranath Das, the master of a fishing trawler, floated for 5 days in the Bay of Bengal after his vessel capsized on July 6th. He had entered the waters on July 4th with 14 other fishermen. Three of them got trapped in the trawler while he managed to escape with the others. All 11 of the others drowned over the days but Das persisted. He clung on to a bamboo pole without any food, or life jacket.

On July 10th, Das was spotted by a Bangladeshi vessel near Chittagong. A two-hour rescue effort during which he was even lost once, brought him to safety. He was then taken to Kolkata for treatment. He recalled the terrifying experience saying: “All I can recollect now is that my trawler capsized and we jumped into the water and were floating. I did not eat during the entire time I was floating. There was intermittent rain and big waves. I drank water when it rained.” Unfortunately, his nephew could not make it. He shared: “We were floating together. He had a life jacket. But since he was very much scared, I was carrying him on my shoulders for days. But he drowned shortly before I was picked up by the ship.”