Two of the four country boat fishermen, who went missing after setting sail on July 4, were rescued on Monday morning, while search operation to trace the other two fishermen continued for the fourth day.
Fishermen leaders and Fisheries department officials said country boat fishermen from Nambuthalai in Ramanathapuram district, who ventured into sea on Monday, found the two fishermen – Stephen, 42, and Anthony, 40, -- clinging on to the capsized fibreglass boat about 16 nautical miles off Nambuthalai and rescued them.
They rescued the fishermen around 11 a.m. and took them to the coastal hamlet of Embavayal in Pudukottai district, the nearest shore point in the afternoon. On reaching the shore, the fatigued fishermen were shifted in a waiting ambulance to the government hospital at Manalmelkudi.
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Deputy Director of Fisheries E. Kathavarayan, who visited the fishermen at the hospital, said that they looked exhausted and haggard and were being administered intravenous fluids. Quoting doctors, he said their condition was stable. They looked fatigued and could not talk much, he added.
Family members of the two fishermen were with them at the hospital. Fate of the other two fishermen – Chindas, 43, and Minon, 41, – was not known but search operation continued, officials said.
Fishermen leaders, quoting the rescued fishermen, said Minon and Chindas were feared drowned. They were also clinging on to the capsized boat till Sunday night, when Minon lost his stamina and dropped into the sea, while Chindas gave up in the early hours of Monday, they said. Officials, however, said that the two other fishermen were missing.
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Apart from seven boats, which were already in the search operation, a set of ten boats would join them on Tuesday, they said. Fishermen, Indian Coast Guard and Indian Naval Air Station personnel, who were involved in the search operation since July 5, could not trace the missing fishermen due to poor visibility and high surf beats, officials said.
Meanwhile, Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao visited the family members of the missing fishermen at Pamban on Monday. As he was consoling them and interacting with fishermen leaders, he was informed about the rescue of the two fishermen. Soon, he contacted his counterpart in Pudukottai and arranged for an ambulance and first aid.