Seven fishermen from Pagadalapeta hamlet on Kakinada outskirts were drowned in the sea while returning to the shore on Tuesday. The total number of deaths of fishermen rose to nine on Tuesday with two other deaths reported on Monday.
The issue came to the light when 64-year-old Vadamuduru Kotaiah, the lone surviver of the boat that ventured into the sea with eight fishermen on its board, returned safely late on Monday.
As Kotaiah was in a semiconscious state, he was rushed to the Government General Hospital for medical treatment. According to the information provided by him, Kamada Nukaraju, 25, Jakka Buchibabu, 30, Karri Raju, 30, Gadipilli Simhadri, 40, G. Tata Rao, 40, all residents of Pagadalapeta, Chekka Sattibabu, 50, of Jagannadhapuram and Gopi Satyanarayana, 50, of Yanam slipped from the boat in the middle of the sea and got drowned.
Two deaths of fishermen were reported one each from Parlopeta and Uppalanka.
Coast Guard rescues fishermen
Indian Coast Guard rescued fishermen from a boat trapped in rough sea in between Kakinada and Visakhapatnam and they are being brought to Visakhapatnam on an oil tanker.
Joint Director of Fisheries Koteswara Rao told The Hindu on Tuesday afternoon that they had also requested the Visakhapatnam Port to arrange a tug to bring the rescued fishermen from the oil tanker to the fishing harbour here.
Twenty of 59 fishermen from Kakinada, who landed here in nine boats, were discharged from King George Hospital in the morning after administering fluids. They were in a dazed condition due to their traumatic experience. “They have left by road after tying their boats at the fishing jetty here,” Mr. Rao said.
Two boats reach
Vizinagaram District Collector M.M. Naik said that fishermen in two boats – one of which developed engine problem, had reached safely. The officials of Fisheries Department had also established contact with their counterparts in Odisha and Telugu fishermen settled in Puri to track down fishermen who had anchored their boats at various places following formation of depression in the Bay.
“It was a miraculous escape for us after we were caught in the mid-sea. With limited ration and rainwater we could escape,” Yellaiah, a fisherman from East Godavari, who reached here in a boat, told The Hindu.
Emotional scenes were seen at Fishing Harbour here as anxious relatives had a re-union with fishermen who reached the shore since Monday afternoon.
