20 people missing after fishing boat capsizes in Bangladesh

At least 20 people were reported missing after their fishing vessel capsized in Bangladesh amid the cyclonic storm Jawad, an official said on Tuesday, adding that search operations were underway.

"The vessel carrying 21 fishermen capsized in the Bay of Bengal and 20 of them are missing," Golam Mostafa Chowdhury, president of the Barguna District Fishermen's Trawler Owners' Association in Barguna, some 180 km south of capital Dhaka, told the media.

"We've come to know from the survivor Monday night that the vessel overturned and sank in the Bay of Bengal."

He said that the fisherman, Hafizur Rahman, who was rescued by crew members of another vessel at about 11 p.m. on Monday, has informed that there were 21 fishermen on board of the fishing vessel.

Jahangir Mallick, the Barguna district's police chief, told Xinhua that the boat capsized near a remote island.

Parts of Bangladesh have received heavy rains under the impact of the cyclonic storm.

No major damage has so far been reported due to the heavy incessant downpours.