ONGOLE: Seven of the nine fishermen who went missing after a Tamil Nadu fishing boat capsized in the Bay of Bengal near Kothapatnam in Prakasam district were recovered. The family members who came to Ongole identified the bodies and, after completing all formal procedures, left for Tamil Nadu with the bodies by Friday evening.
Prakasam district authorities made arrangements for a quick autopsy and police investigation to speed up the process. Tamil Nadu Minister N Marie Wilson, who arrived in Ongole on Thursday night, also returned with his team by Friday evening after the bodies were handed over to the family members.
The Minister, his team and the family members of the deceased extended heartfelt thanks to the AP Government, Prakasam district administration and locals for their support in tracing the bodies and completing the formalities in a short span of time to facilitate their return home.
Earlier, from Friday morning, the Navy and Coast Guard conducted a search operation to trace the missing fishermen near Kothapatnam.
Meanwhile, one body washed ashore near the Kothapatnam coast, and another was found near the Voollapalem coast near Kothapatnam by Friday afternoon.
Local fishermen informed the officers, who retrieved the bodies and sent them to Ongole GGH. There, the family members identified the bodies.
The deceased have been identified as Mohan (47) of Royapuram, Murugan (48) and Pakkiri Samy (49) of RK Nagar, Vijayakanth (44) of Thiruchinankuppam in Thiruvottiyur, Kuppusamy (58) of RK Nagar, Kuppan (48) and Aravindh (40) of Tondiarpet, all in Chennai. The medical officers then completed the postmortem and handed them over to family members.
The district authorities made travel arrangements for them to take the bodies back to Chennai. Meanwhile, the capsized boat was reportedly heavy and buried more than half into the deep sand and mud of the shallow waters.
“The Coast Guard and other personnel discussed the rescue of the capsized boat, and they opined that it may require some heavy machinery and expert support to bring it out to the shore from the spot where it was buried in the sand and mud more than half,” Ongole RDO Chandrasekhar Naidu told the TNIE. The search operation will continue to trace the remaining two fishermen.