Andhra Pradesh

Aerial search for missing fishermen

Correspondent

Kakinada: Frantic efforts are on, including an aerial search, by Coast Guard helicopters and on the deep sea by mercantile ships to trace the whereabouts of five fishermen of Dummulapet area here, who were found missing in the sea while fishing.

All the five fishermen left for fishing on July 2 but failed to return within three days, the scheduled time. The agitated family members complained to police and also to the Fisheries Department. Assistant Director of Fisheries V. Ramamohana Rao said on Thursday that efforts of the coast guard to trace the missing fishermen had proved futile and there is no chance of their survival. However, as a last resort, he had requested the coast guard authorities at Chennai to conduct aerial searches off Paradeep or Kolkota with the hope that the boat might have drifted in a northeast direction.

He said any relief to the agitated family members, presuming the missing are perished in the sea, had to be extended by the district administration. Tahasildar Ch. Sattiraju has visited Dummulapet area and made personal inquiries on the disappearance of the fishing boat.

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