Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Apr 16: Nine out of 14 fishermen on board a fishing boat from Kerala that was engaged in deep sea fishing had gone missing after the boat collided with a cargo ship on Tuesday. Search operations for the missing fishermen continued on Thursday too.
Mortal remains of three fishermen were recovered from the ill-fated boat. Out of them, post-mortem of two bodies was performed on Tuesday itself at Wenlock Hospital after which they were sent to Tamil Nadu. The other body was sent to West Bengal via Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Coastal Security Police Force, a ship from the naval base at Karwar and a helicopter searched for the other fishermen. Four boats which specifically came for the purpose from Kerala, along with some fishing boats from Mangaluru too got involved with search. Still, the missing fishermen have not been found.
Coastal Security Police Force sources said that expert divers have already reached the interiors of the boat and searched for the fishermen but none was found. After hitting the ship, the boat was floating, but on Wednesday, it sank fully. Therefore, search for the missing fishermen has been made further complicated, they revealed.
Ibrahim of Purse Seine Boat Owners Association, said that so far there is no accurate information as to whether the missing fishermen are stuck at the bottom of the boat or whether their legs have got entangled in the net. The boat, which was visible till a day back, has completely sunk now, which means that water has entered the storage room of the boat. He also said that there is a chance of the fishermen having been scattered, due to the draught of the water.