THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Four fishermen who went missing off the coast of Vizhinjam safely returned ashore on Saturday. They ventured into sea on Wednesday night. But they were trapped after one of the engines of their boat developed a snag. The vessel can sail only if both engines are functional. However, they managed to repair it on Saturday and they reached ashore at 11.30 am.
When the four fishermen - Louis, Benny, Yesudas and Antony - reached ashore, they were taken to the community health centre at Vizhinjam. Louis and Yesudas were later shifted to Medical College Hospital while Antony was taken to the General Hospital. Benny is undergoing treatment at Pulluvila Government Hospital.
Yesudas told media persons that they did not have drinking water for two days and they survived on the boat with sheer luck. “Nobody came to rescue us. Our relentless efforts to make the engine functional finally bore fruit,” he said.
When they did not return by Thursday morning, the coastal police, Coast Guard and Marine Enforcement squad conducted search operations, which continued on Friday as well. Fishermen had staged an agitation at Vizhinjam on Friday against the ‘inefficient’ way in which search operations were carried out by the Coast Guard. Coastal police had said that the rough sea was making it difficult to conduct search operations.
District Collector K Gopalakrishnan met the agitating fishermen and promised to bring home the missing persons. He also said helicopters were used to trace them. Vizhinjam vicar Fr Justin Jude alleged the Coast Guard and coastal police’s search operations were ineffective as they conducted a search only till 18 nautical miles off the coast on Friday.