Lost at sea: Twelve feared dead as boat topples over in stormy sea

Locals witnessed the fishermen crying for help; say they could have been saved with timely rescue efforts.

KARACHI:

At least 12 fishermen went missing after a boat overturned near Mubarak Village on Sunday. The rescue efforts, which were initiated considerably later, failed to locate the bodies of the fishermen due to the high tide.

A helicopter, sent by Pakistan Navy, hovered above the spot where the boat had toppled over and remained visibly stranded for about three hours. The personnel were, however, unable to locate any of the fishermen due to the rough weather.  The rescue team members in the navy helicopter claimed to have seen what remained of the boat but were unable to discern anyone near the spot. They also said that the chances of survival were low due to the rough weather.



According to sources, the accident occurred approximately two nautical miles from the coast. Despite fervent efforts to rescue the stranded fishermen, the team returned to the base soon after sunset.

“We saw about 14 fishermen crying for help,” a Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) emergency rescue worker, Azam Khan, told The Express Tribune. He added that the locals along the coast had seen the fishermen floating above the water for about half an hour before they disappeared. “The incident occurred at around 12:30pm, but no rescue personnel arrived at the site till around 5pm.” Some of them claimed that the fishermen could have been saved with timely rescue efforts.

Fishing is banned during the months of June and July because of rough seas. According to Khan, the local fishermen are well aware of the severity of the weather. He was of the belief that the fibre-glass boat must have collided with something which caused it to topple over. He maintained that it was not possible for the KMC rescue team to reach the spot because they do not have sufficient equipment to go so far out into the sea.

“The boat left from the Karachi Fish Harbour,” said Sami Memon, a spokesperson of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum. He said that the accident had taken place between Mubarak Village and Abdul Rahman Village. Memon blamed the accident on the stormy tide.

He said that several locals had gathered near the coast but were unable to rescue the drowning fishermen. “The local people lack resources while the rescue teams deployed along the coast are also incapable of rescuing people in such a situation.” Memon lamented that though the rescue teams of the Maritime Security Agency and Pakistan Navy were informed soon after the accident, no one came to the rescue until much later.

It could not be ascertained where these fishermen hailed from, but locals speculated that they might have been residents of Ibrahim Hyderi.  “They looked like Bengali fishermen,” said Khan. Memon said that his organisation was trying to contact people in different areas to find out more details of the fishermen.

Khan told The Express Tribune that the capsized boat will touch the coastline on Monday (today). “We saw the fishing net and other luggage spread around the boat. The boat is visible from the area,” he explained, soon after the rescue operation was declared over.

The rescue teams have warned other fishermen not to go into the deep sea for fishing these days. “Our duty is to warn and keep the visitors away from the sea,” said Khan, confirming that the missing fishermen did not belong to any village near the spot.

“The majority of fishermen know how to swim but it is almost impossible to swim in this rough weather,” said Memon. “The fishermen who looked on as the boat went under could not risk a rescue operation as they knew that if a swimmer stuck on the boat could not move, how they could swim to the dying men.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2014.