One among the three fishermen who went missing in the sea off the coast of Vizhinjam in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram, was found dead on Wednesday, May 26. The body of the man, identified as Davidson from Poonthura, was recovered from Adimalathura on Wednesday morning, police said. Rescue operations are on to find the other two missing persons, whose boats reportedly capsized due to strong winds and rough seas on Tuesday night. Eight other fishermen whose boats also capsized have been rescued by the Coast Guard and other fishermen.
The two missing persons have been identified as Joseph and Shabariar, who are natives of Poonthura and Kottapuram respectively. "Four boats, carrying at least 17 people including the deceased man, capsized off the coast. A total of eight people have been rescued so far by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG). The coastal wardens of the state police also took part in the mission," Coastal Police CI, Elias P George told PTI. The exact number of people who had travelled in the capsized fishing boats was still not clear, he said, adding that many of them had already swam to safety. He also said that a Coast Guard ship and dornier aircraft have been deployed to search for the missing fishermen.
Parts of Kerala had witnessed heavy rains from Tuesday night until Wednesday morning, with some regions of Thiruvananthapuram reporting long hours of power cuts due to trees fallen on power lines. Though Cyclone Yaas and the depression in the Bay of Bengal did not affect Kerala, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on May 26 predicted isolated heavy rainfall in the state. A yellow alert has been declared in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki, Palakkad and Kozhikode districts.
Meanwhile, the IMD has predicted heavy rainfall across the state for the coming days. Isolated heavy rainfall is predicted on May 29. A yellow alert has been issued for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki, Palakkad and Kozhikode on May 29 as well. The IMD has also issued thunderstorm warnings with moderate rainfall and gusty winds reaching speeds of upto 40 kmph in isolated places in Kerala and Lakshadweep.
(With PTI inputs)
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