18 fishermen lost in wind storm feared dead

Items recovered included NIC, sea permits, water bottles, eatables as well as personal belongings

KARACHI: After six days of being lost at sea due to the wind storm, only the belongings of 18 missing fishermen on board vessel Fazal Akbar have been recovered from Ghora Bari, Sindh. However, the fishermen are still missing.

Maritime Security Agency officials continued their search operation for the missing fisherman on Thursday.

According to sources in the fisheries department, the items recovered included National Identity Cards of fishermen, their sea permits, water bottles and eatables as well as personal belongings.

The items were found during a search carried out on a local lifeboat, they said, adding that the fishermen lost with the boat were “feared dead” and hunt for their “bodies is under way”.



It is the sixth day since the sea vessel lost its signal owing to strong winds.

The crew last contacted the shore on Monday night, during which the in-charge of the boat informed that the vessel was drowning.

According to Fishermen Cooperative Society spokesperson, bodies of only two of the 22 missing fishermen have been found. Two fishermen were in Al-Azizi, 18 in Fazal Akbar and two in Mudassir boats.

The Al-Azizi and Mudassir boats have arrived ashore while Fazal Akbar sank, said the spokesperson, adding that the search for the missing fishermen would continue.

Separately, the body of a Korangi area fisherman, Noor Islam, who was lost with his Al-Ramadan boat was found on Wednesday, while the body of another fisherman Mannu Mian, who sailed the same boat, was found on Thursday morning from the Kharo Chan point.