Three fishermen have reportedly lost their lives after a fishing boat which set off to sea from Kerala's Beypore in Kozhikode district, collided with a ship. According to reports, the incident happened on Monday night along the coast of Mangaluru in Karnataka. According to reports, 14 fishermen were inside the boat that is identified to be named 'Rabah'. Most of the fishermen are believed to be migrant workers and not natives of Kerala.
Seven of the fishermen were from Colachel in Tamil Nadu and the rest were from West Bengal, reports stated, adding that at least three people have been rescued while at least seven are still trapped inside the boat. The accident took place about 43 nautical miles away from New Mangalore.
Kerala Transport Minister AK Saseendran confirmed to Mathrubhumi News that two people had lost their lives and their bodies had been recovered after the incident. State Minister for Fisheries, J Mercykutty Amma, confirmed that the accident took place and stated that not much details are available. "It is only known that two people have been found. The Coast Guard is also at the spot and we have sought the help of Indian Navy," the Minister told Mathrubhumi News.
However, the owner of the fishing boat confirmed that one more person had died and that the death toll stood at three. The Indian Coast Guard in a tweet said that it has deployed three ships and an aircraft to search for the missing fishermen.
In a swift sea-air #SAR operation @IndiaCoastGuard deployed 03 #ICG ships & aircraft to search for 14 fishermen of IFB ‘Rabah’ approx 43 NM west #NewMangalore #today. 02 crew found, search for other crew in progress.@DefenceMinIndia @Min_FAHD @shipmin_india @SpokespersonMoD
— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) April 13, 2021
(This is a developing news story. Further details will be added as TNM gets them.)