Three stranded fishermen rescued

KARAIKAL: Three fishermen who were stranded mid-sea were rescued by a team of the Karaikal Coastal Police on Wednesday. Karaikal Senior Superintendent of Police Dr B Srikanth told reporters here that Mathiyazhagan (38), Manivel (20), Mathiarasan (20) and Poovarasan (16) of Karaimedu village ventured out into the sea on a fibreglass boat on Tuesday. When they were fishing off Karaikal coast early Wednesday morning, the engine of their boat engine conked off. Meanwhile, the sea turned rough with strong winds.The fishermen were spotted by another small fishing boat heading towards shore. Unfortunately, the other boat could not accommodate more than one person as it was already overloaded. Mathiyazhagan then sent his son Poovarasan in that boat to the shore with an SOS message, the SSP said.On receipt of the message, a rescue team launched a search for the other three fishermen. The team, led by SI Dhanvandhiri managed to spot the fishermen and rescued them, said the SSP.Dr Srikanth lauded the efforts of the police and also urged the fishermen to use the 24x7 toll-free numbers ‘1048’ and ‘1093’ to communicate with the Coastal Police for any assistance