4 fishermen drown, 2 missing in Andra Pradesh boat capsize

Four fishermen drowned and two others were missing after their boat capsized in backwaters in Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh, police said on Thursday. A group of 19 fishermen were returning to Urlagonditippa village after fishing in the sea late last night when the boat was caught in rough waters and capsized in Upputeru stream, they said.

While 13 of them managed to swim to safety, six others went missing. Four bodies were fished out on Thursday, Machilipatnam Rural Circle Inspector N. Kondaiah said. The deceased were in the age group of 50-62 and belonged to Pallepalem and Urlagonditippa villages of Kruthivennu mandal.

A massive search operation has been launched to trace the the other two fishermen, Fisheries Joint Director Sheik Lal Mohammed said. Transport Minister Perni Venkataramaiah visited the families of the victims and announced Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia each to the kin under a government welfare scheme for fishermen.