Bangladeshi fishermen have rescued two Sri Lankan fishermen who drifted at sea for 36 days after their trawler broke down. Four Sri Lankan nationals, among them a father and son, had gone out fishing; when the trawler failed, two returned on another vessel, but the father and son stayed to save the boat.

Last Wednesday the drifting trawler was spotted inside Bangladeshi waters by a boat belonging to Ziaur Rahman of Kutubjom union in Maheshkhali, Cox's Bazar, which was carrying eight fishermen in all.

Mr Rahman described the rescue. "When I got close I saw two people who could not even stand up from where they were sitting. I could not understand a word they said. They were asking for help with their hands. And they were only saying — Sri Lankan, Sri Lankan," he told BBC Bangla. He then brought them ashore on his own fishing boat.

The two rescued men are S H Chaminda and his son Saunda Hannadigipiyawating. Their home is on Rural Hospital Road in the Devinuwara area of Sri Lanka. A family member in Sri Lanka confirmed the relationship to BBC Bangla and thanked the Bangladeshi fishermen and the police.

The distance alone makes the case unusual. Sri Lanka lies about 1,300 nautical miles from Bangladesh by sea, and although both are South Asian neighbours the two countries share no direct maritime boundary.

The two fishermen are currently in Cox's Bazar and their disabled trawler is in police custody. Police say they will be sent to Dhaka shortly.

Diplomatic arrangements are already under way. Md Abdus Sultan, officer-in-charge of Maheshkhali police station in Cox's Bazar, told BBC Bangla that the Sri Lankan high commissioner to Bangladesh had spoken to him and that preparations to return the two men to their country had begun.

Source: BBC Bangla