Udupi, Aug 18: All the four fishermen, who went missing after their country boat ‘Sagara Shri’ crashed into the breakwaters near Koderi fishing jetty in Byndoor taluk on Sunday, were found dead on Monday.
Rescuers located the bodies of Nagraj Kharvi, 55, at Hosahithlu near Navunda, early in the day, and that of Laxman Kharvi, 35, at Hadaragoli, hours before the search operation ended at 9pm.
The bodies of the other two — Manjunath Kharvi and Shekar Kharvi — washed ashore at Gangibail late on Monday night.
Nagraj, along with Manjunath Kharvi, Laxman Kharvi and Shekar Kharvi, fishermen from Navunda, were part of a group of 11 fishermen who had gone fishing in the boat. R Chethan, SP of Coastal Security Police (CSP), said after professional divers from Murudeshwar, who were deployed to locate the fishermen in the area, drew blank, a drone was flown to scout the area.
DIG S B Venkatesh, commander of Coast Guard (Karnataka), said Indian Coast Guard had pressed its fast-patrol vessel (FPV) that was patrolling the high seas off Karnataka and Kerala coasts to trace the missing fishermen. Sandeep G S, police inspector of Gangolli station, said they coordinated with CSP in the operation.
Citing eyewitness accounts of surviving fishermen, Sandeep said Nagraj, who had managed to clamber on board the battered boat after it capsised, was the last one to drown. The seven fishermen, who managed to swim ashore, were treated in a hospital and also discharged after first-aid.
Fisheries minister Kota Shrinivas Poojari, in a Facebook post, offered condolences to the bereaved families. Noting that he has drawn the attention of the chief minister to the incident, Poojari said the fisheries department will provide financial assistance to the distraught families and that he would meet them personally.
Comments
Add new comment