THATTA: Divers from the fishing community have been searching in vain for a missing boat carrying six fishermen in the deep sea along the Keti Bandar coast for more than 48 hours.

Chairman of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum Syed Muhammad Ali Shah told Dawn that three vessels, carrying mostly Bengali fishermen from the Ibrahim Hyderi area, ventured out into the deep sea for fishing on Friday. High-velocity winds threw the boats off course and they veered towards Keti Bandar. The motor of one of the boats had developed a defect.

Local fishermen spotted two of the boats, carrying nine fishermen, and helped them get to the Keti Bandar coast. There they left for Ibrahim Hyderi, he said.

One of the boats with six crew members, headed by Dal Mohammad Bengali, remained missing till Sunday evening.

Journalists Aziz Lashari and Ali Raza Perozani, who work in the coastal areas of Thatta district, confirmed the report and said the fishermen had mounted a search.

Published in Dawn February 6th, 2017