Five bodies of missing Tamil Nadu fishermen found off Andhra coast, search on for five others
Ongole: Five of the nine fishermen from Tamil Nadu, who went missing during Cyclone Murasu, have been found dead at Kothapatnam beach. Their bodies, swollen and with their skin peeled off, were washed onto the coast. Prakasam collector P Raja Babu said the coastguard, marine police, and local fishermen are conducting a search-and-rescue operation for the remaining people.
According to sources in the Fisheries Department of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, a trawler with registration number IND-TN-02-MM-2584, belonging to Selvazhagan, left Kasimedu fishing harbour in Chennai on October 29 for fishing near Nizampatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Driver Pakkirisamy alias Suriya (49) led the crew. The others were M Kuppan (48), S Mohan (47), K Rajesh (52), A Murugan (48), L Kuppusamy (58), C Vijayakanth (44), A Aravindh (40) and M Narayanan (57). They carried food for ten days, eight life jackets and five life buoys.
On October 31, the Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department issued a cyclone warning and asked all fishing boats to take shelter in nearby harbours. Selvazhagan informed the Chennai officials that the boat took shelter at Nizampatnam and anchored along with another boat from Tamil Nadu. On November 2, around 06:00 PM, Selvazhagan contacted the driver Suriya and Kuppan and learned that the boat was at sea, warned them about ongoing severe weather alerts on Cyclone Murasu, and directed them to halt at Ramayapatnam.
On November 3, around 03:00 AM, a nearby boat owned by Venkatesh Rajendran received a distress call. The callers said their engine failed as water entered the engine room due to heavy rain, and their navigation system broke down. They said they drifted about 20 nautical miles en route to Ramayapatnam and requested immediate help and rescue. However, the boat is also struggling to pump water out of the engine room. They relayed the information to four other boats in the vicinity and passed it to the Tamil Nadu officials.
The Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department submitted an urgent request to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) of the Indian Coast Guard, seeking aerial search assistance. Meanwhile, the boat owner Selvazhagan sent two mechanized boats to search for the boat, but they didn’t locate it.
On the evening of November 4, Wednesday, a group of fishermen identified the capsized boat near the coast of Kothapatnam near Ongole. The boat was upright, and they could not identify its details or whether anyone was trapped inside. They captured a video of the boat and sent it to the local officials, who shared it with the Coast Guard and Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department officials. On Thursday, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister N. Marie Wilson contacted the Andhra Pradesh government and sent John Becker, Fisheries Assistant Director, Chennai (North), with a team of officials and family members of the missing fishermen to Ongole.
Meanwhile, five bodies of the missing fishermen washed onto the shore near Kothapatnam. The bodies are swollen, their skin has peeled off, and they are unidentifiable. John Becker said to The Hans India that the family members will identify the bodies of their men based on the tattoos and other marks.
Prakasam district Collector P Raja Babu visited Kothapatnam and inspected the search-and-rescue operation. He said the fishermen on the boat tried to reach other boats from Tamil Nadu, anchored at Ramayapatnam, and started from Nizampatnam without informing the owner, officials, or people in Ramayapatnam. He said that they believe the boat capsized due to Cyclone Murasu, and fear that all of them are dead. The Collector said the Coast Guard, Marine and local officials are trying to bring the capsized boat to shore as soon as possible.