MANGALURU: Authorities found the bodies of three more fishermen of the group of six who had gone missing a day after their boat capsized off the Mangaluru coast. The search operations continued on Wednesday. The bodies of Chinthan (21) from Bokkapattna Bengre, Mohammed Hasainar (28) and Ziyaulla (36) from Kasaba Bengre, were recovered on Wednesday, while that of Mohammed Ansar (32) is still missing. On Monday, a purse-seine fishing boat with 25 fishermen onboard capsized eight nautical miles from Alive Bagilu in Mangaluru.
On Wednesday morning, more than 50 purse-seine boats resumed the search operations and at 10 am, the body of Chinthan was found, while that of Hasainar and Ziyaulla were recovered around 2 pm. The fishermen who found Chinthan’s body mistook it for that of Ansar at first. However, later, officials at the Wenlock Hospital mortuary that it was Chinthan’s after identifying a tattoo on the body.
Ansar’s body reportedly fell into the water while being shifted to another boat by the search team.
Meanwhile, Fisheries Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary has announced an ex-gratia of `6 lakh each to the families of the deceased fishermen. “I have directed the officials to submit a report to the director of the fisheries department about the cause of the boat tragedy. We will also release more relief to the kin,” he said.
When the boat turned turtle, it was Nizamuddin, Ijaz and Sharafath, whose presence of mind, saved many fishermen. Nizamuddin from Bengre said that immediately after the boat capsized, he cut the rope of the emergency boat and 19 of them survived. “If the Coast Guard had used a crane, the fishermen would have been alive,” he said.Several fishermen leaders alleged that only fishermen were part of the search operation and the Coast Guard officials did not extend support. Fish business in the city was also stalled for a day.