TN: Rameswaram fishermen rescue 2 Sri Lankan fishermen

Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu) [India], July 17 (ANI): Fishermen from Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram have rescued 2 Sri Lankan fishermen who were fighting for their lives after their boat overturned in the Bagh Strait sea while one other Sri Lankan fisherman was reported dead.
It was reported that a boat which had gone fishing on the night of July 14 from the Pear area of Mannar district did not return to the shore and the navy was also informed.
The three tied themselves to the boat so that they would not be dragged away by the waves after the boat that they were travelling in broke down in the middle of the sea.
Tamil Nadu fishermen who were fishing nearby saw the people who had been tied up this morning and rescued the two alive.
The fishermen who rescued both of them have dropped the Sri Lankan fishermen near Kachchadeevu Island in Sri Lanka.
The two fishermen, Mohanraj and Jenardhanan, who jumped into the sea near Kachchadeevu, were rescued by the navy and brought to Mannar.
At the same time, a boat from Mannar went to rescue a 52-year-old fisherman from Batticaloa district named Rayamoorthy who died in the boat.
The two fishermen were rescued by Thangachimadam of Anthonyyarpuram, a boat belonging to Rameswaram.
Boat driver Dhanush Niklas Raviston said that they found an overturned boat at 6.20 pm on Saturday in the area near Poinrai.
"When it was identified as a Sri Lankan fisherman's boat, there were three people who tied themselves to the boat in order to protect themselves and not to be dragged by the sea waves," Raviston said.
Raviston rescued the two fishermen along with seven other people after two hours as the sea waves were high and the fishermen were severely affected.
The third fisherman was found dead while they tried to rescue him, Raviston said adding that they only took two rescued people in their boat.
Raviston mentioned that they would be captured by the Sri Lankan Navy if they were spotted.
"We asked the wishes of the Sri Lankan fishermen as our navy will arrest them if they are taken to our country," he added.
The Indian fishermen returned to Tamil Nadu after they dropped them off at the beach area near Sri Lanka's Kachchadeevu Island at 5 am. They waited till they reached Kachchadeevu, waved their way and confirmed their lives. (ANI)