Fifteen people went missing after a trawler sank near Shah Porir Dwip in the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday afternoon.
The captain of the trawler, however, was rescued alive.
Khorshed Alam, a member of the Saint Martin's Union Parishad, said that after a 65-day ban, the trawler, carrying six fishermen, was heading out to sea for fishing.
It picked up 10 more passengers from Saint Martin's Island. The trawler was capsized at around 4pm in Golarchar area of Shah Porir Dwip of Teknaf.
Being informed, four speedboats from Saint Martin Island rushed to the scene and managed to rescue the captain of trawler but the rest of the passengers remain missing, he added.
Meanwhile, commander of the coast guard station in Saint Martin's Anik said coast guard members arrived at the scene and started a rescue operation. A navy rescue ship later reached the site and joined the rescue operation.
