Six fishermen go missing in Bay of Bengal

Machilipatnam: Six fishermen who ventured into the Bay of Bengal on Monday went missing off the Machilipatnam coast in Andhra Pradesh's Krishna district, officials said today.

Deputy director of fisheries department T Jaya Rao said six fishermen from Machilipatnam and Nellore districts ventured into the sea on June 15 in a mechanised boat for fishing from Machilipatnam port and on June 17 they had sent a message to owner of the boat V Vasantha Rao seeking his help that they were stuck in the sea.

Rao had sent another boat for rescue of the fishermen but they could not be traced for three days, he said. The officer said that they have informed about the missing fishermen to Kakinada and Visakhapatnam coast guards and Marine police but the fishermen are still untraceable.

Boat owner Rao has also lodged a complaint with Machilipatnam marine police station. Of the six, four fishermen were -- S Nagur and T Nagaraju, from Machilipatnam while K Venkateswarlu and K Chittibabu and the two others hailed from Nellore.