In a tragic incident, four fishermen died when their makeshift ‘Mancha’ (platform) collapsed due to a Norwester wind at Dumboor Lake in Dhalai district on Sunday.

Officials said that three of the four bodies of fishermen were recovered so far and search was on to locate the fourth body.

An official of the Dhalai District administration said that the fishermen often stay in the makeshift ‘Mancha’ to carry out fishing in the giant Dumboor Lake, a famous fishing water body and hot tourist destination of Tripura.

“Late on Saturday night, the makeshift ‘Mancha’ collapsed due to the Norwester wind and rain and the four fishermen fell into the deep water of the lake. The state disaster management personnel so far recovered the three bodies.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel subsequently joined the search operation to recover the fourth body. Senior district administration officials are camping in the area and monitoring the rescue operation.

Those bodies found so far, identified as Haridas Das (46), Jyotish Mallik (50), Pradip Das (45) and the name of the missing fisherman is Sanjit Nandi (55).

Chief Minister Manik Saha in a social media post expressed his grief and condolences over the death of the fishermen and said that the state government would remain behind the families of victims. “Four fishermen were missing in an unfortunate accident due to a storm in Dambur Reservoir.Under the supervision of the administration and it has already been possible to recover one of their bodies and the other three are ongoing, I extend my condolences to the families of the victims. The state government is with their families in this difficult situation,” said Dr Saha.

Tripura’s lone hydel power project situated near the Dumboor Lake, from where the state's main River Gomati originates.