KOCHI: Two fishermen were killed and three others were missing after their boat hit an unidentified ship at sea 12 nautical miles off Manakkodam Light House in Alleppey district on Thursday morning.
The Kollam collector P G Thomas told TOI here that the two deceased had been identified as Jestin from Kovil Road and Xavier of Chavara. He said the Navy, Coast Guard and the marine police are conducting search operations.
Two fishermen were rescued with injuries and they have been hospitalised. The bodies of Xavier and Jestin have also been brought ashore.
Coming as it does within couple of days after the gunning down of Indian fishermen by naval marines on board an Italian oil tanker Enrica Lexie , the incident has sent shock waves among the fishing community in Kerala.
The Navy and Coast Guard have deployed four ships and a Dornier aircraft for search and rescue operations, according to a defence ministry spokesman. INS Sarvekshak from Southern Naval Command and ICGS Savitribai Phule who were at sea were diverted to the area while Coast Guard Interceptor Boats- C 144 from Kochi and C 143 from Vizhinjam has also been sailed out to augment search and rescue efforts. One more ship from Southern Naval Command will sail shortly to join the search, the spokesman said.
The collector said the fishing vessel had sailed from Neendakara from Sunday with seven persons on board and the incident appeared to have happened at about 3 am. The ship involved in the accident is suspected to be an oil tanker, he said adding efforts were on to trace the ship.
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