32 fishermen in Kerala rescued after their boats capsize

Thiruvanthapuram/Kochi Aug 28 (PTI) Thirty two fishermenwere rescued in Kerala today in two separate incidents aftertheir boats capsized off two coastal villages in the state. In the first instance, 15 fishermen who had put out tosea from Puthenthoppu village near Thiruvanthapuram wererescued after their country craft capsized about 20 km off thehamlet. Fishermen in other boats and coastal police helped rescuethem, police said. Four fishermen suffered minor injuries and were givenfirst aid at a hospital in the capital city. In the second incident, 17 fishermen from Thrissurdistrict had a miraculous escape when their fibreglass boatcapsized off Kochi coast at around 9.30 AM. The boat capsized when fishermen lost balance as theywere pulling the nets with a heavy catch, police said. The fishermen then jumped into the sea and held on to a’trailor boat’ attached to their vessel. Marine Enforcement and Kochi coastal police rushed to thearea, about four nautical miles away from Njarackal andrescued them after receiving an alert from fishermen inanother boat, police said. They were later taken to a government hospital anddischarged after a mandatory check up. The vessel and the net could not be recovered, policesaid. PTI UD TGB APRIKA