SRIKAKULAM: Despite a deep gash caused by the propeller of his capsized boat, fisherman V Nayakanna braved the choppy waters to swim to safety and trudge his way back to relatives and friends, who were fast losing hope of seeing him again.
Earlier, four of Nayakanna’s crew members, Y Papa Rao, V Chiranjeevi, K Bhima Rao and P Hema Rao, battled the rough sea for around 3.5 hours before reaching the shore after their boat had capsized off Srikakulam coast on Sunday. Another fisherman, B Mohan Rao, was still missing at the time of filing this report.
The men, all residents of Manchineella Peta village in Vajrapukotturu mandal, had gone to Odisha to buy a new boat a few days ago. While the six fishermen were sailing back home in the new boat, it capsized in “extremely rough sea” -- as Hema Rao would later inform his relatives over the mobile phone -- off Akupalli beach.
On being informed of the incident around 2.30 pm, Hema Rao’s relatives alerted the local authorities and Fisheries Minister Seediri Appala Raju, who hails from the district. They passed on Hema Rao’s message that all others with him had been thrown into the sea.
“The boat capsized around one kilometre from the coast. The sea was rough and the fishermen took advantage of the wind speed and the direction of tides to swim to safety. They reached the shore, one after the other, a few kilometres away from Akupalli a little past 6 p.m.”, sources said.
Navy continues search for missing S’kulam fisherman
Meanwhile, a search and rescue operation was launched after Minister Raju alerted the Navy and sought help. Villagers waited for Nayakanna, aged over 50, and Mohan Rao, who they believed would swim ashore like the four others. As time ticked by, panic gripped the village even as the search operations involving multiple agencies went on in full swing.
A little past 7 p.m., they noticed Nayakanna trudging towards the village. “He swam ashore about three kilometres from the village, and walked his way home,” sources said. The villagers, noticing his injured leg, took him to the public health centre at Akupalli, and later to Palasa Government Hospital, where the minister met him late in the night. The minister said the fishermen expressed fear that Mohan Rao had drowned. “The Navy is searching. We hope they will rescue him,” he said. Raju alerted villagers along the coast to look out for any person swimming ashore.