Rameswaram fishers save Sri Lankan fisherman
Heavy winds had sunk their boat on Saturday.
Rameswaram: A fisherman from Northern Sri Lanka found struggling in the sea after his fibre-reinforced plastic boat had capsized some five nautical miles off Dhanushkodi, was courageously saved by a group of Rameswaram fishermen and safely brought to the shore near here on Sunday.
Mariadoss, 37, and Anthony, 20, had left Mannar shores in Northern Sri Lanka on Saturday on a fishing expedition in their 'fibre boat', reports reaching here said. However, late in the evening heavy winds had torpedoed their boat, while both the Sri Lankan fishermen, pushed by strong wave current, were struggling to keep themselves afloat in the mid-sea, reports said.
Fortunately, one of the Sri Lankan fisherman, Mariadoss, was spotted by a group of five Rameswaram fishermen, fishing near Dhanushkodi on Saturday night around 9 pm, the reports. Unmindful of the risks, in a humanitarian gesture, the five Rameswaram fishers - Michael, Bakkiyam, Muthupandi, Murugan and Thomas, rescued Mariadoss and took him on board their fishing boat.
On returning to the shore this morning, the local fishermen handed over the Sri Lankan counterpart to the Coastal Security Group police at Mandapam here for further appropriate action. The fate of the second Sri Lankan fisherman is not yet known.