The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Wednesday rescued 14 fishermen from a sinking boat off the coast of Daman in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu using choppers in multiple sorties, officials said.
While 11 fishermen onboard a sinking boat were airlifted by a helicopter and safely brought to the shore in the afternoon, three others, who had refused to leave the boat earlier, were rescued in the evening, said Deputy Inspector General and commanding officer of the Coast Guard Air Station in Daman, SSN Bajpai.
The Mumbai-registered fishing boat had started its journey from Navsari in Gujarat on Tuesday and was headed towards Mumbai.
"When the boat was around 16 nautical miles off the Daman coast on Tuesday night, it experienced engine failure. As the engine stopped working, there was no power on the boat to pump out the water which entered the boat. The entry of water inside the boat beyond a point eventually leads to the sinking of the boat,"SSN Bajpai told reporters.
After the crew failed to start the engine, they contacted the Coast Guard for help, said SSN Bajpai.
A distress call was received at 11:35 am on Wednesday, following which the Daman Coast Guard sent a helicopter from its air station and airlifted the 11 fishermen in four sorties, said SSN Bajpai.
"The captain of the boat and two other fishermen refused to be rescued as they were hopeful of saving their boat by starting the engine. But, when they could not start, they were airlifted in the evening by our helicopter and brought to our air station. All of them will be handed over to the fisheries department," said SSN Bajpai.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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