CHENNAI: A week after they set sail from Kasimedu fishing harbour while cyclone Murasu was brewing in the Bay of Bengal, the bodies of five out of nine fishermen were washed ashore along the Andhra Pradesh coast on Thursday.The tragedy, biggest in recent times, shook the fishing hamlets abutting the city and triggered anger among fishermen, who faulted the state govt and the Coast Guard for delay in tracing the fishermen, who managed to contact their families and inform them that their mechanised boats had developed snag mid-sea.Chief minister C Joseph Vijay condoled the deaths and said the identities of three victims — S Mohan, 47, A Murugan, 48, and C Vijayakanth, 44 – had been ascertained. The identities of the other two were yet to be established. He announced a solatium of Rs 7 lakh each to the families of the victims.Finance minister Marie Wilson, who represents R K Nagar assembly constituency which includes Kasimedu, visited the families of the victims and promised action. The govt booked the boat owner, Selvazhagan ,on a complaint that he compelled the nine-member crew to venture into the sea. Madras high court, however, deferred his arrest till Nov 11.The nine fishermen, including boat driver Pakkirisami alias Surya, 49, left Kasimedu fishing harbour on Oct 29. Following a weather warning issued by the Tamil Nadu fisheries department, they took shelter at Nizampatnam fishing harbour in Andhra Pradesh.When they left Nizampatnam for Ramayapatnam on the night of Nov 2, the boat’s engine failed while at sea. At around 3am on Nov 3, another fishing boat relayed information about the engine failure and the vessel’s location through wireless communication. No further contact was established with the missing boat.The Indian Coast Guard later found the vessel lying capsized about five kilometres off the Kothapatnam coast in Prakasam district. Search operations were launched with the assistance of fishing boats, Coast Guard vessels and Andhra Pradesh authorities.Tamil Nadu fisheries department officials, led by assistant engineer John B, travelled to Nellore with 13 relatives of the missing fishermen to identify the recovered bodies. Two bodies remained unidentified as they were badly disfigured. The search for the remaining missing fishermen is still on.Meanwhile, relatives held a road blockade outside Kasimedu fishing harbour police station, accusing authorities of failing to respond promptly.
