The bodies of eight fishermen, who went missing after three trawlers capsized in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday, were fished out from the sea on Thursday. Nineteen fishermen had gone missing on July 16 after the trawlers capsized. One of the three trawlers was found on Thursday with a fisherman’s body on board. Another trawler was found broken and the third is yet to be traced. The India Coast Guard, which carried out the search operation, handed over the bodies to the fishermen’s association in Kakdwip. Bijan Maity, the secretary of the association, said eight of the seven of the victims had been identified. All of them were from Namkhana. Kuldip Singh Sheoran, the inspector general of the Coast Guard’s north-east region, said fishermen had been advised not to venture into the deep sea because of the inclement weather and choppy sea conditions. A Met official said the alert message had been issued on July 15, a day before the fishermen ventured into the sea ignoring the warning. “The alert has not been withdrawn,” he said. Maity, however, said the fishermen had not received any weather alert. “The advice has come after the trawlers capsized,” he said. A member of the fishermen’s association said this was the peak season for hilsa. “If they feel the sea is safe, we will not be able to stop them. Their families survive on their catch,” he said. Around 250 trawlers left from Kakdwip, Namkhana and Frazerganj on July 16. Witnesses to the capsize have said that the sea had been calm on Tuesday morning but became choppy around 1pm. The fishermen who survived admitted they had no option but to watch the capsize. “We were helpless. Had we tried to go near them, we would have met with the same fate,” a fisherman told police. A Coast Guard Dornier aircraft from Calcutta and a ship are continuing the search for the remaining fishermen. “A hovercraft is searching the coastal areas,” Singh said. Man electrocuted A 28-year-old man, who worked in a detergent company, was electrocuted on Thursday while at work in Kamarhati, Barrackpore. Jagannath Dutta, a resident of Kankinara, was switching on a pedestal fan when he was electrocuted. Police sent his body for post-mortem.