18 fishermen missing in Prakasam

                                 18 fishermen missing in Prakasam

DC CORRESPONDENT

ONGOLE, APRIL 11

As many as 18 fishermen were missing from Pallepalem seacoast village of Chinaganjam mandal of the Prakasam district. T. Venkateswarlu, P. Tirupataiah, K. Srinu and others of the fishermen village said that 18 fishermen ventured into sea for fishing in three boats in the morning. They added that in view of Tsunami warning they tried to contact them on mobile phones several time and no phone was worked. They further added that after failing of their efforts to contact them till night, they complained about missing to revenue and police officials who started searches to trace the 18 missing fishermen.

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Tsunami alert frightens people

                                                 Tsunami alert frightens people  

DC CORRESPONDENT

ONGOLE, APRIL 11

People came on to roads fearing an earthquake in few colonies of Ongole due to mild tremors. People residing in the seacoast villages also rushed out from their houses afraid of a Tsunami and earthquake on Wednesday in Prakasam district. Fishermen were intimated by their family members to return from fishing in the Bay of Bengal at Kothapatnam, Vodarevu, Ramayapatnam, Eetamukkala and other seacoast areas.

People came out from their houses when they noticed shaking of objects at 2.14 pm at Ongole, Yarajarla, Ponduru and several areas of the Kandukur and they further experienced second mild tremor within ten minutes. As various channels telecasted news about tsunami in Indonesia and warned about a tsunami in coastal areas of the state, people at Kothapatnam beach worried. The fisheries, revenue, police and other departments were alerted. 

As many as 72 fishermen villages exist in the10 seacoast mandals of the Prakasam district in the 102 km long seacoast of the district. Residents of Pallepalem seacoast recalled the horrible experience of year 2004 December 26 when the sea came forward abnormally and killed 34 people in various seacoast areas of the district. Residents of Pakala and Ramayapatnam and Vodarevu also came onto roads with fear as tidal waves rose to heights.

The Prakasam superintendent of police, Mr K. Raghuram Reddy said that police staff was alerted and no visitors would be allowed in the beaches as a precautionary measure. The climate suddenly became cool and people experienced cool breezes. As tsunami warnings were revoked at 6 pm feared people of the district relaxed.

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