5 fishermen escape as boat sinks in sea

Five fishermen had a miraculous escape when the mechanised boat in which they were fishing near Valimunai islet off Chinna Erwadi seashore near here sunk in the sea in the early hours of Sunday.

Police said that the fishermen, including A. Silambarasan (22), who owned the boat, and his father Arumugam (45), had set out for fishing from Chinna Erwadi seashore on Saturday night and were fishing five nautical miles off the shore when the trawler began to sink.

Water gushed into the boat through a hole around 2 a.m. Sensing trouble, all the five fishermen jumped into the sea and swam to safety.

They reached Valimunai islet and stayed there till Sunday morning, when a country boat fisherman spotted them and brought them to the shore, the police said.

The other fishermen were Vinodh Ranjan (27), Thangaraj (40) and Kalimuthu (38), the police added.