Two Sri Lankan fishermen (father and son) rescued in Maheshkhali, Cox's Bazar, after 36 days drifting in the Bay of Bengal

A father and son from Sri Lanka, S. H. Chaminda and his son Sounda Hannadigipiyawating, were rescued by a local Bangladeshi fisherman named Ziaur Rahman near the Gulirdhar area of Kutubjom Union, Maheshkhali, Cox's Bazar. Their trawler engine failed 36 days prior, and they survived by consuming raw fish before drifting into Bangladeshi waters. The fishermen expressed a desire to gift their boat to the rescuer as a gesture of gratitude, though the vessel is held by police. They have been transferred to a government shelter in Dhaka, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Sri Lankan Embassy coordinating their repatriation.