Ship with 7000-ton wheat sinks in the Bay of Bengal

Dhaka, Oct 12: Hitting an underwater stone pile, a lighter ship with 7,000 tons of wheat sank in the Bay of Bengal near the Bangladesh southeastern Chittagong seaport tonight.

Radio Control sources said the small vessel hit the snags and capsized in the Bay waters at about 2100 hrs while unloading the corn from a big foreign ship harbored in deep sea.

''The ship went under 20-25-ft seawater while its workers managed to swim ashore,'' said one source in the port.

Port authority said tugboats with rescuers went to the spot and continued their salvage operation.

But the salvage operation is being hampered due to strong waves in the sea.

UNI