Eight fishermen who had gone missing on May 8, two days before Cyclone Asani struck the coast here, were traced Thursday and brought back to safety, police said.
Krishna district SP Siddharth Kaushal said the fishermen had ventured into the sea on a mechanised boat from the Machilipatnam coast without informing the fisheries department even though the community was advised against entering the sea in view of the impending cyclone.
After the cyclone reached the Machilipatnam coast on May 10, they panicked and somehow reached a safe place, and informed their families, the SP said. Their families then approached the fisheries department and the Marine Police.
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The marine and local police launched a joint operation and they traced the fishermen on May 11 near Malakayalanka village, 150km from the Machilipatnam coast. All the eight fishermen safely reached the Machilipatnam coast this evening with the help of Krishna district Police, he added.
The SP said the eight fishermen -- S Rambabu, P Suribabu, V Ramana, K Sathyam, G Apparao, P Kameswara Rao, S Bhavani and P Apparao -- belong to Gilakaladindi area in Machilipatnam city.
(With PTI inputs)
