The number of fishermen who have died after putting to sea in adverse weather has risen to five, the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said on Sunday, as rough conditions driven by the south-west monsoon continued along Sri Lanka’s coasts.
One further fisherman, who set out from the Mannar area, remains missing, the ministry said.
Hiru News reported that of two fishermen who went missing after their boat met with an accident on the afternoon of July 31 off Chilaw and Thoduwawa, the body of one washed ashore at Kollupitiya on Sunday (2). The second man survived the accident and has been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital.
Recovery off Negombo
Ada Derana, also citing the Ministry of Fisheries, reported separately on Sunday that the body of one of two fishermen listed as missing after a fishing boat capsized off Negombo had been recovered, and that a second fisherman had been rescued, brought safely ashore and admitted to hospital for treatment.
The two accounts describe the same outcome — one body recovered, one survivor taken to hospital — but differ on when and where the boat was lost. Ada Derana placed the capsizing off Negombo on Saturday (1); Hiru placed the accident off Chilaw and Thoduwawa on the afternoon of July 31. It is not clear from either report whether both outlets are describing the same two men.
The joint Navy and Air Force search launched on Saturday, after three fishing boats came to grief in separate incidents off Negombo, has continued through the weekend. A Sri Lanka Air Force Bell 412 helicopter has been deployed in support, and authorities say they have received reports of several other fishing vessels in difficulty in the same waters.
Warnings still in force
The deaths come with the coast still under alert. The Department of Meteorology raised a Red warning on Sunday evening for strong winds and very rough seas from Galle to Pottuvil via Hambantota, with gusts of 60-70 kmph, and flagged winds of 50-60 kmph from Puttalam to Galle.
The Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources had already barred small and one-day boats from putting to sea along the entire stretch from Jaffna to Beruwala on Saturday, warning that winds in those waters could reach 70 kmph. The same weather system has left 17 shipping containers adrift west of Colombo Port, one of which came ashore at Induruwa on Sunday morning.
