Mangaluru/Kozhikode: Three persons were killed after a ship collided with a fishing boat off the coast of Mangaluru on Tuesday. Nine people went missing following the accident. Two were rescued by the Coast Guard and others.

Bengal native Sunil Das (34) and Tamil Nadu native Velmurugan (37) were rescued from the sea.

A fishing boat named Rabba which ventured into the sea from Beypore on Sunday met with the accident. It is learned that the accident took place around 43 nautical miles off the coast. It is learned that the ship collided with the boat place around 2.05 am on Tuesday.

The boat is owned by Beypore native Jaffer. A total of 14 workers were in the boat. Out of them, 7 are natives of Kulachal in Tamil Nadu and others are from West Bengal.

According to Coast Guard, a cargo ship MVAPL Le Havre from Singapore collided with the fishing board. The ship is anchored at the accident spot.

Three ships and helicopters of the Coast Guard are deployed for the search operation. Karnataka Coastal police and coast guard are also taking part in the mission.

Minister AK Saseendran informed that Chief Minister’s office contacted Karnataka police in connection with the incident. He stated that the search operation is underway.

  BOAT