Nine more bodies of the fishermen who went missing after the capsizing of hundreds of fishing boats in the Bay of Bengal during Tuesday night's storms, were recovered in the coastal areas of Dhaka in Bangladeshy Friday, raising the death toll to 65, private news agency UNB reported.

The bodies were recovered from various canals and rivers along the Bay.

Commanding Officer of Navy ship 'BNS Shaheed Farid' Lt. Commander Firoz Kabir, who went missing since Tuesday night's storms, could not be traced till Friday morning.

Official and local sources said at least 25 boats, about 630 trawlers and the navy ship were overturned in the Bay of Bengal by violent storms.

Around 3,500 fishermen and the naval commander went missing during the sea storms in that fateful evening.

Navy, Coast Guards and forest department officials have been searching hard for the missing since Wednesday but the rescue operation is being hampered due to inclement weather and strong waves in the sea.

Coast Guard Commander of West Zone Badrudozza Chowdhury said they have been continuing rescue operations amid the rough weather.

(Xinhua News Agency September 23, 2006)