Two fishermen go missing

Their country-boat capsizes mid-sea because of rough weather

Two fishermen of Amali Nagar near Tiruchendur, who had gone for fishing in a fiberglass country-boat on Monday night, went missing after the boat capsized mid-sea because of rough weather.

Amali Nagar residents said fishermen of their hamlet, which has around 170 fiberglass country-boats, would put out to sea after midnight every day and return to the shore in the evening. When Aswin, 35, of Amali Nagar went for fishing, along with Prasanth, 40, Paulraj, 22, and Nithyanantham, 42, in the early hours of Monday, his boat was caught in gale and capsized as they were fishing about 22 nautical mile off the shore.

As Paulraj and Nithyanantham were swimming, they were rescued by the fishermen in other boats, while Aswin and Prasanth went missing.

Only after the rescuers alerted the Amali Nagar residents on Monday night did the accident come to light. Six mechanised boats were rushed to search for the missing fishermen.

On information, Collector K. Senthil Raj alerted the Indian Coast Guard, which sent its ships, Aviraj and Aadhaesh, to the spot with five fishermen from Amali Nagar.

The Coast Guard’s Dornier aircraft and a helicopter from INS Parundu in Ramanathapuram district were also deployed for the search operation.