KAKINADA:The district administration has requisitioned four helicopters - one each from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, the Reliance Industries Limited, the Crane Energy Limited and the Indian Coast Guard - to search for the 12 fishermen missing in the Bay of Bengal since Friday.
The helicopters have been requisitioned by collector H Arun Kumar at the behest of chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
The 12 fishermen, all of whom are from Dummulapeta area of Kakinada, went for fishing two days back and have not returned so far. Their family members are in a state of shock.
According to fisheries department deputy director Govindaiah, the boats have gone missing after engine failure. He said that two days back, the missing fishermen informed their family members that they were stranded at Bhairavapalem due to engine failure and that they needed assistance. There was no further communication from them, he added.
Arun Kumar said that the search operations would continue till the fishermen were traced and rescued.
