The residents of Vettukad fishing village are angry. Five of their dear ones had gone to the seas in a boat, a day before Cyclone Ockhi. Even now, they have no information about them.
“The media focus is entirely on Vizhinjam and Poovar. But even when we get media attention, it happens to be wrong information. Two days after they went missing, one television channel scrolled a news that all of the fishermen from Vettukad have been rescued. We are still waiting for them, two weeks later,” says Shabu, younger brother of 35-year old Shibu, one of the five men who went missing.
The family has one survivor too, Shibu’s elder brother Sherin, who had a narrow escape from Cyclone Ockhi.
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“I had gone for fishing with another group on November 29. At night, we had dropped anchor and had begun fishing. We sensed that something was wrong when small flies began arriving in large numbers. We had heard stories that this usually happens before the arrival of really strong winds. We began our return journey soon. The cyclone started taking effect as soon as we neared the shore,” he says.
The brothers were taken on a rescue helicopter to trace Shibu, but they say that it was a namesake gesture, as the helicopters returned after flying a short distance.