Four fishermen drowned while another two are reported missing after a multi-day fishing trawler had collided with a vessel in the sea area off Galle.

Police said that seven persons were onboard the boat and that one of the fishermen has been rescued.

The fishing boat ‘Malindu Putha’ which had set out to sea from Beruwela was involved in the accident last evening within Sri Lankan territorial waters.

The four bodies recovered and the rescued fisherman are to be handed over to Galle Police by the Sri Lanka Navy later today (12).

UPDATE: A Fast Attack Craft attached to the Southern Naval Command carried out a naval operation to rescue the fishing trawler in trouble in the sea area off Galle.

A merchant vessel had informed the Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre (MRCC) about a capsized fishing vessel in the sea area about 30 nautical miles off the Galle Lighthouse.

On receipt of this distress call, the Navy rushed a Fast Attack Craft along with a team of Navy divers to the sea area where the incident was reported.

During the search operation conducted, the Navy managed to save one fisherman and on being told about 06 more fishermen aboard the distressed vessel, the Navy extended their search to find the remaining persons.

Unfortunately, in the extended search, Navy divers recovered 04 dead bodies of the fishermen and they are further engaged in search missions in search of the other two, the navy said.

The one who was rescued was brought to the Galle harbour and rushed to the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital for further treatment. Meanwhile, the dead bodies were handed over to the Galle Police for post-mortem examination.

The Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre is the first point of contact for merchant ships, fishing vessels and other parties who are involved in various marine and terrestrial studies involving the maritime zone of Sri Lanka.