Indian Coast Guard (ICG-Kakinada) personnel on Friday rescued 11 fishermen after their boat caught fire mid-sea following a cylinder blast off the Kakinada coast.
The incident occurred at around 7.30 a.m. on Friday when the 11-member crew, all hailing from to Kakinada city, was returning on their fishing boat (IND AP MM49). The fishing boat was loaded with catch after their three-day deep-sea fishing.
“A patrolling vessel of Reliance Group sighted the fishing boat in flames and immediately alerted us. We scrambled our rescue team which brought all the 11 fishermen back to safety,” sources in ICG-Kakinada told The Hindu.
The fishermen reportedly jumped off their stricken boat after it caught fire, and managed to stay afloat until help arrived. “The fishing boat sank along with the entire catch,” sources said.
According to Kakinada District Fisheries Officer P.V. Satyanarayana, the rescued fishermen have been identified as Veerababu, S. Narayana, P. Satyam, Ch. Nagoor, P. Nookaraju, P. Tata Rao, A. Kanakaraju, K. Stayanarayana, P. Satish, P. Dharma Rao and D. Veerababu.
All of them are in the 30-55 age group. Fisheries officials conducted a preliminary medical check-up of the rescued fishermen after which they were reunited with their families.
