THRISSUR: For the first time, a drone employed by a youth came to the rescue of four fishermen who were stranded mid-sea after their vessel capsized in rough sea off the coast of Thalikkualm in Thrissur on Tuesday. 19-year-old youth Devang Subil, a second year BTech student of Christ University, Bengaluru, who is also a freelance photographer, came to know about the mishap around 10 am.
The Coast Guard and a Fisheries department patrolling boat were searching for the missing fishermen when he reached the beach by about 10.30 am. It took around one hour for him to get permission from the coastal police and other agencies to cruise into the sea in search of the missing fishermen armed with his drone. “When I informed them about the technical assistance I could render to the rescue team, the fishermen on the coast took the initiative and they took me to the sea in their boat.
When the boat reached around 11 nautical miles away from the coast, I pressed the drone and within 10 minutes I could find one man who was floating in the sea clinging on to a fishing pot, in my mobile phone display. The fishermen and coastal police then took the boat near to him and we could spot two other fishermen 200 m away from where the first man was found.
It took some time to find the fourth fishermen as he was swimming close to shore after the accident. One fisherman was about to drown when I spotted him as his swimming skill was poor. Soon after he was rescued, he lost consciousness,” he said.
Coastal Police, Azhikode, confirmed that it was with help of the drone employed by the 19-year-old that the four fishermen were rescued. All credits for the rescue of the fishermen go to him as it was difficult to find the missing fishermen without life-saving device midsea. Fortunately, a drone employed by the youth was able to spot the fishermen before the rescue boat came to save them, they said.