KOCHI/KOLLAM: Two fishermen were killed after they were shot at from an Italian merchant vessel ‘Enrica Lexie’ off Alappuzha coast on Wednesday afternoon.The deceased onboard fishing vessel ‘St Antony’ were identified as Pinku from Colachel, Kanyakumari, and Selestian from Moodakkara in Kollam.Confirming the incident, the Defence Ministry said in a release that “the ship is learnt to have fired at the fishermen mistaking them for pirates. The vessel, ‘Enrica Lexie’, has reported the incident to the authorities.“Coast Guard District Headquarters No.4 launched CGS Samar, CGS Lakshmibhai and an aircraft to pursue the ship. Coast Guard aircraft has since located the ship and asked it to anchor off Kochi for detailed investigation. INS Kabra from Southern Naval Command was also put to sea for the operation,” it said. The incident happened about 4.30 pm about 22 nautical miles off the coast.The Kollam Coastal Police said they received information from ‘St Antony,’ which set sail from Neendakara.The information was passed to Neendakara Coastal Police by a fisherman named Prabhu around 5.30 pm. The information was immediately passed to the Navy and Coast Guard.According to fishermen’s organisations, ‘St Antony’ is owned by Freddy of Tamil Nadu.
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