A fishing boat caught fire somewhere in the sea near here on Sunday. Seven crew members of the boat jumped into the water and reached the shore safely. A technical fault in the boat engine was said to have been the cause of the accident.
The fire accident reportedly took place in the sea about 15 km from Kovirikonda coastal village on Pudimadaka coast of the district. The marine police identified the boat as belonging to a fisherman named B. Suryanarayana from Visakhapatnam.
The fishermen were identified as G. Yellaji, G. Ramu, B. Dhanaraju, R. Yerrayya, G.Yellaji, P. Veeraswamy and Ch. Nallodu of Visakhapatnam fishing harbour area.
According to sources here, on Friday night, the boat went into the sea from Visakhapatnam fishing harbour for fishing. The boat caught fire when the crew tried to use the net for fishing in the early hours of Sunday morning. The crew tried to douse the fire but failed to control it. After jumping into the sea and swimming for some distance, another boat belonging to Srinivasa Rao was seen. They boarded the boat and reached the fishing harbour safely.
Visakhapatnam South MLA Ch. Vamsikrishna Srinivas and fishermen leaders among others reached the harbour and inquired about their condition. He promised to take up the issue of compensation with the concerned authorities. The MLA was informed that the cost of the damaged boat would be around ₹35 lakh to ₹40 lakh.
Published – September 29, 2024 03:01 pm IST