KOCHI: Three fishermen, who ventured into Veeranpuzha, a tributary of Kochi backwaters went missing in the river in the wee hours of Wednesday. According to the coastal police, four fishermen had ventured into the river in two country crafts to cast the net around midnight.
It started raining around 1.30 am and strong wind started blowing. There was turbulent flow in the river and both the boats capsized. One of the fishermen, Saju of Elamkunnappuzha managed to reach shore and informed his friends who launched a search for the missing people.
Though fire and rescue personnel, police and fishermen conducted search operations from dawn to dusk, the missing people could not be traced. A team from the Navy arrived at 5 pm and conducted search till 6.45 pm using underwater camera, the search did not yield any result. The search was stopped around 7 pm due to low visibility.
“We are ready to continue the search tomorrow if the authorities seek our help,” said a navy officer.
The missing people are Santhosh, 45, of Aduvangasseri House in Naytarambalam, Sidharthan, 55, of Adimakkandathil House at Pukkad near Elamkunnappuzha and Sajeevan, 56 of Karathattil House, Pachalam.
Meanwhile, the IMD and fisheries department have issued a warning against venturing into the sea for fishing in view of the rough weather.