KARACHI, Dec 26: At least nine fishermen drowned when three fishing boats they were aboard capsized near Patyani Island in Pakistani territorial waters on Monday.

By Thursday evening, five bodies had been recovered by the Pakistan Navy divers, but no trace of the rest could be found, SHO Docks police station told Dawn.

Those whose bodies have been recovered are identified as Noor Alam s/o Noor Muhammad, Amin s/o Nawaz Muhammad, Nazeer s/o Mazhar, Shah Jehan s/o Nazeer Muhammad, Yousaf s/o Muhammad Ahmed.

The fishermen still missing are Lal Mian s/o Abdul Hakim, Muhammad Rafiq and his two sons, Saeed Omar and Saeed Noor.

According to details, the three unregistered fishing boats went out to the sea from a jetty known as “Bangali Dakha”, Ibrahim Hyderi, on Dec 22.

The next day, a cyclone hit the coastal belt with the result the three boats, carrying four to five crew, capsized, an official of the Fishermen Cooperative Society said.

He said that two fishermen managed to save their lives by swimming ashore.