Coast Guard rescues eight persons near Lakshwadeep Islands

The Indian Coast Guard today rescued eight persons who were adrift at sea near Lakshwadeep Islands, it said here.
The rescued persons, which included a woman and two children, had set sail in the fishing boat MFB Mussafariya from Kadamat island yesterday morning.
The boat was expected to reach Bitra Island, 40 milies away, by 4 pm. As it did not reach in time, the locals first tried to search for it, and then alerted the ICG headquarters at Kavaratti.
ICG sent out an interceptor boat and a Dornier aircraft. "The aircraft located the boat drifting 20 miles north-west off Kadmat Island," said an ICG official.

The boat had developed a technical snag, he said.
The ICG boat then rescued the eight persons, and towed the troubled boat to Kadmat Island.
"We also informed the locals that search and rescue at sea can become much easier if all the boats carry an operational Distress Alert Transmitter (DATs) and communication sets," said the official.