KARACHI: A search operation by divers of Pakistan Navy, Maritime Security Agencies and Edhi Foundation to find 14 fishermen who had gone missing after their boat capsized in sea near Keti Bandar continued on Saturday but no trace of them was found, officials said.

MNA Agha Rafiullah of the Pakistan Peoples Party told Dawn that he had talked to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday, asking them to approach Indian authorities and seek their help to trace the missing fishermen.

He said the PM assured him that the government would take up that matter with the Indian authorities as there were ‘apprehensions’ that tidal waves might have taken the missing fishermen to the territorial limits of India.

MNA Rafiullah, who has been elected from a Karachi constituency, added that the missing fishermen belonged to his constituency in Ibrahim Hyderi and he was in ‘constant touch’ with their relatives.

Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum official Kamal Shah also apprehended that high waves might have taken the fishermen to the territorial waters of India as they had not been found after search of four days by the PN, MSA and Edhi Foundation.

Forty-five fishermen belonging to Ibrahim Hyderi had gone fishing but their boat capsized at Hijamkro creek near Keti Bandar in Thatta on March 5 at around 3:00am. Thirty-one of them were saved while 14 others were still missing, triggering fear and anxiety among the relatives.

Mr Shah said that fishermen tended to give Rs24 billion as taxes to the government but none of the officials or the representatives of the area had so far met with the relatives of the missing fishermen in Ibrahim Hyderi to console them.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2024