Monday, May 25, 2015

Coast Guard yet to locate missing Kasimedu fishermen



Chennai:

The Indian Coastguard has intensified the search for five missing fishermen from Kasimedu who went to sea on Friday.



“We have yet to locate them,” said a Coastguard spokesman.



“The search and rescue efforts are going on full swing. A total of approx 17 hours by aircraft and 60 hours by ships have been logged till now. All Coast Guard units at sea have been directed to maintain sharp look out at sea to locate the missing boat,” the spokesman said.



The search and rescue operation by Coast Guard to locate the fishermen comes in the wake of allegations by the kin of fishermen that the Central agencies have failed to take any action.



The Coastguard said that following the receipt of the information by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Rescue Centre (MRCC) Chennai the Coast Guard launched Search And Rescue (SAR) operations immediately and diverted ship Rajtarang in area. Subsequently one interceptor boat was also deployed for close coast search.



Extensive search was carried out by coast guard helicopters and Dornier aircraft commencing early Sunday morning and Monday.



“No missing boat could be sighted. Coast Guard advanced offshore patrol vessel has also been deployed for search of the missing boat/crew at high seas,” the spokesman said.



It is learnt that Kadumbadi (28), Mayandi (32), Sakthivel (23), Mani (25), and Suresh  (23), from Jeevarathnam Nagar, Kasimedu, sailed out on a fiber boat around noon on Friday.

They were expected to return by Friday night. Since all efforts to locate them failed, the families complained to Harbour Police and alerted the Coast Guard and other agencies about the incident.

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