By Matters India Reporter
Thrissur: An 18-year-old student of Bengaluru’s Christ University used his drone to save four fishermen who floated in the sea for hours after their boat capsized.
Devang Subil, a student Bachelor of Technology, had come to his home in Kerala after the coronavirus forced closure of his college.
His father informed him of the incident while he was sitting at home. He told Devang to offer his help if he can. Devang, who has been training to fly drones near Thambankadavu in Thrissur district stepped forward to locate the missing fishermen.
He immediately left to Thampankadavu with his drone and informed Geetha Gopi, the local legislator, that he was willing to go to sea to find the missing fishermen.
Gopi conveyed this to local police officer JJ Jinesh.
Following the sub inspector’s approval, Devang got into the search boat with his drone. The teenager later admitted that he was nervous as it was his first venturing into the sea. He said that he is happy to help in saving four lives during his first voyage into the sea.
Devang operated the drone from the search boat.
They managed to save all four fishermen hours after their boat capsized in the strong storm. One of them was on the verge of collapse when the rescuers spotted him
The legislator honored Devang when he returned to the shore.
Parassinikkadavu Muthappan boat had gone to the sea at 4 am on January 5. The fishermen were Subramanian (60), Vijayan (55), Iqbal (50) and Chembanadan Kuttan (60), who is also the owner of the boat.
They were rescued between 1.30 pm and 2 pm on the same day. The fishermen stayed afloat on sea by holding onto plastic buckets and tanks.