Nine Indian fishermen are feared dead after their trawler capsized in the Bay of Bengal during a storm, an official told AFP on Sunday.

The trawler had left from the Sundarbans in West Bengal on Wednesday with 17 men on board, said Surajit Bag, assistant director of fishing in the state government.

Eight were on the deck while nine others were asleep in the cabin below when the storm struck early Saturday near Bagher Char island he told AFP.

“The trawler was overwhelmed by high waves and it capsized” he said.

Another trawler rescued the eight on deck after they were thrown overboard, he said.

“Despite an extensive search, the remaining nine fishermen who were asleep below the deck could not be found. We fear they are dead.”

An Indian Coast Guard vessel had towed the trawler back to land, where the survivors were in a stable condition, Bag said.

The Sundarbans, a UNESCO world heritage site famed for its mangrove forest, is home to thousands of fishermen who fish throughout the year.

But the onset of the annual monsoon season sets off bad weather and storms in the coastal region, making sea voyages risky.