Police personnel arrive to shift the dead bodies of the victims of boat-ship collision near Kochi. Tony DominicKochi: Two Indian fishermen were killed and 11 others injured when a Panama-registered cargo ship hit their fishing boat off Kochi coast early on Sunday. The fishing boat was completely destroyed in the collision.
The ship has been detained.
The victims were Kulachil native Thambidurai and another person from Assam. A search operation was on to rescue the missing occupant of the boat, believed to be a north Indian.
The boat carrying 14 fishermen was hit by the ship around 2 am Sunday about 20 nautical miles off the Kochi coast. The rest 11 were rescued by occupants of another fishing boat, averting a major tragedy. The injured fishermen had been admitted to various hospitals here and the condition of two of them was stated to be serious.
The injured fishermen admitted to various hospitals in Kochi on Sunday. Photo: Tony Dominic"There was no warning and after hitting the boat, they sailed away without stopping. Another fishing boat came and rescued us," said a fisherman, who was being treated at a hospital here.
Mystery shrouds Panama ship
The ship, Coral Amber, was detained along with its crew after a massive search by the Navy and Coast Guard, inspector general of police (Ernakulam range) P. Vijayan told PTI.
It was not known where the ship was headed to. Kochi police commissioner M.P. Dinesh told reporters a case of culpable homicide will be registered against the officials of the ship.
"Orders have been given to bring the ship to the coast here. The Coast Guard and Indian Navy officials are working together to bring the ship here. A case of culpable homicide will be registered against the officials of the ship," said Dinesh.
This is the second fatal incident involving a foreign ship in the sea off Kerala coast.
In February 2012, two fishermen were shot dead allegedly by Italian marines onboard an oil tanker Enrica Lexie.
