Fisherman missing, 7 rescued as boat sinks off Gujarat coast

A fisherman went missing while seven others with him were rescued after their barge sankoff the Gujarat coast Monday, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) said.

A frantic search is on for the missing fisherman, it said.

Soon after receiving a distress call Monday morning,seeking help after the barge started sinking off Mithaport in Jamnagar district, anICG interceptor boat patrolling at sea was diverted immediately for the rescue operation, the ICG said in a press release.

"Despite adverse weather conditionsof windsgusting upto 40 kts (knots) the search and rescue efforts culminated in successfully saving seven precious lives," it said.

"One missing crew is frantically being searched using sea-air coordinated method by augmenting a Dornier aircraft, it said.

This comes a day after the ICG rescued eight fishermen off the Porbandar coast in Gujarat after receiving distress call from them following flooding of their fishing trawler.