Kerala: One dead as ship hits fishing boat

KOZHIKODE: Diving experts from the Navy retrieved the body of one of the missing fishermen from a boat that  capsized after being  hit by a ship on Wednesday.  The missing fishermen were from Poovar near Thiruvananthapuram and Chinnathurai near Kanyakumari. Navy team will continue the search and rescue operations on the spot about 50 nautical miles off Beypore coast. The retrieved body is yet to be identified. A communiqué from the Southern Naval Command said that it would  inquire into the circumstances that led to the boat capsize.

The Navy divers from CGS Aryaman who searched for the boat and the missing fishermen in the sea, retrieved one body which was handed over to a fishing boat Ann Mary. The boat will reach Beypore in the early hours of Saturday, the communiqué said. The ship CGS Abhinav will reach the spot to continue the search operations for the remaining bodies/survivors.   Queen Mary, a fishing boat from Beypore which received the body from the Naval team started to Beypore from the spot in the evening.  It is expected to reach early in the morning, according to coastal police. 

The relatives of all the missing fishermen had already reached Beypore. According to survivors the boat capsized soon after a ship passed by which slightly hit at the boat. The fishing boat Immanuel from Munambam, Kochi went for fishing with six person three days back. According to the rescued fishermen the boat capsized by noon on Wednesday.  Fishermen from a fishing boat Govind from Beypore had rescued two fishermen of the boat, Savior and Karthik, both from Chinnathurai, Kanyakumari, on Thursday.  Arrangements were being made for the release of the body after completing the inquest and other police formalities as  soon as possible once the relatives are able to identify the bodies, coastal police said.