One dies as illegal fishing vessel capsizes in Puntland

Rescue operation is underway in the Indian Ocean in Puntland in an attempt to find survivors among several people still missing after an Iran registered fishing vessel capsized on Sunday night.

One person has so far been confirmed dead from the disaster, in which the boat upturned on Somalia’s waters, according to Director General of Puntland’s ministry’s for fisheries.

Battling bad weather, rescue workers pulled one body they found trapped in the upturned vessel, it is not clear whether there were other people on board when the ship capsized on Sunday night.

Conflicting reports claim that the vessel was hit by Chapala, a cyclonic storm that developed in the Arabian Sea.

A strong cyclonic storm dubbed Chapala has affected in coastal areas along Indian Ocean in the semi-autonomous regional state of Puntland.

Hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate flood-threatened areas along Indian Ocean as storms bringing torrential rains, according to Puntland officials.

Director General of Puntland’s ministry’s Abdiqadir Hajji Yussuf said that Puntland government is undertaking initiatives to evacuate people from areas to highlands.

Heavy rains and strong winds affected fishermen in Baargaal and Gumbah localities as Chapala hit steadily towards Yemeni coastline.

In 2013, at least 140 people, thousands of livestock have been killed by a powerful cyclone known as 03A in Somalia’s northern region of Puntland.

The cyclone had swept through the Eyl, Beyla, Dangorayo and Hafun districts along the eastern coast and across to Alula at the tip of the Horn of Africa.

With maximum sustained winds of 64 km/h the cyclone brought down phone lines and blocked roads.