Three missing as fishing boats capsize
Scuba divers from the Fire and Rescue Service unit in Vypeen as well as a rescue team from the Indian Navy continued to search for the three persons who went missing after the small boats in which they were trying to retrieve stake nets, capsized in driving rain and heavy winds in the early hours of Wednesday. Those missing are: K.S. Sajeevan, 57, from Pachalam; Sidharthan, 54, from Elamkunnapuzha; and Santhosh, 45, from Nayarambalam. Another fisherman, T.S. Saju from Karthedam, swam to safety after the wind and rain subsided. It was reported that he got hold of a stake planted in the backwaters to tie the nets. He held on to it before swimming ashore as the winds subsided. A fisherman’s union leader said that the three missing were traditional fishermen and used to fish at night using nets which were erected on stakes. The fish and net were retrieved in the early hours each day. However, the wind and rain sank the boats in the early hours of Wednesday in the Eerampuzha, near Pukkad, in Elamkunnappuzha.He said that people came to know of the accident and missing persons after the person, who swam to safety, informed them. A search was launched immediately by the local people. He said that the strong currents, helped by heavy winds, may have carried them further away from the shore.