The fishermen found the bottles floating in the sea after going fishing in a fishing boat for several days. It is reported that he drank it thinking it contained liquor.
The said group of fishermen were in a critical condition due to the poisoning of the said liquid, 2 of them died.
Following this, the concerned fishermen contacted the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and informed about the incident.
Accordingly, the department has sought the assistance of the Sri Lankan Navy to provide medical aid to the said crew and bring them ashore immediately.
In this regard, the Sri Lankan Navy said that the Colombo Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center in the Water Resources Department at the Naval Headquarters received the information this afternoon (29).
Following this, the Colombo Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center of the Sri Lanka Navy has taken steps to provide information to a ship going to the area to help the fishermen who are struggling in the sea about 365 nautical miles away, and the Navy doctors have established contact with them and are giving instructions, the Sri Lanka Navy said.
At present, the Navy has taken steps to send the Sri Lankan Navy ship Vijayabagu with a medical team to the affected sea area to treat the fishermen and bring them ashore.
At the same time, Director General of Fisheries Susantha Kahavatta has informed in this regard,
He said that they were in very deep sea and there was not enough time to send a ship to the area and they had tried to help them by another ship passing through the area.
He further mentioned that it has been reported that some of the bottles recovered by the fishermen have been given to some other boats and since these bottles may be present in other boats, they have taken steps to inform others.
He mentioned that the vessel is currently 320 nautical miles away from international waters, its speed is 7 nautical miles per hour, and it may take up to 2 days to reach the shore.
Currently, one more of the said fishermen has died, while 3 of the said 6 are fighting for their lives.
