Fishing boat capsizes near coastal town of Keti Bandar

THATTA: A boat carrying fishermen capsized near Keti Bandar, citing local sources, ARY News reported on Monday.

“Pakistan Navy’s teams and local divers searching for the drowned fishermen,” according to a report.

In January this year a boat carrying 16 fishermen capsized near Keti Bandar.

A spokesperson of the Fisher Folk Forum said that out of 16 four fishermen survived the boat incident, while a search launched to trace remaining fishermen.

In a later statement, the spokesman said that four more fishermen were rescued, while efforts were underway to trace remaining eight persons onboard the ill-fated boat.

In a deadly boat capsize incident in the same area in December 2017, 21 people were died when an overloaded boat carrying devotees to a shrine for an annual festival and pilgrimage capsized after being battered by strong winds near Mirpur Sakro.

The boat was 10 nautical miles away from the coastal town of Buhara in Thatta district when the incident took place.

The boat, had been carrying nearly 100 devotees, mostly hailing from the coastal settlements of Karachi, to the annual pilgrimage. The boat overturned after its crew lost control of the vessel caught in a gale.