Karwar: Four fishermen returned alive after they were caught in the Fayan storm that lashed Arabian Sea very closely. Unaware of the misfortune which was awaiting them, these fishermen left for fishing in the Arabian Sea. But it was not too late when they realised that it was time for them to battle death. They remained in the water for 21 hours with the help of the float cans which were tied to the fishing net. After spending hours in the sea, they reached the bay alive.

'Jeevan-1', a Persian style of boat form Panjim in Goa left the shores with ice filled boats on November 8. 13 fishermen from Uttara Kannada district and 15 from Orissa were onboard for fishing. But this boat all of a sudden got caught in the storm and later failed to reach the shores.

When they set out for fishing, they began fishing 25 nautical miles from Jaigad in Maharashtra near Goa border. They continued their work for two days and had stocked the fishes in the fish cold. The speed of the wind decreased after the second day. The fishermen predicted the wind to be normal and failed to note that it was a storm.

The boat owner Hanuman Bawa informed the fishermen about the storm on 11 November and instructed them to return immediately. While obeying the orders, these fishermen started towards the shore, but the force of the storm began to increase and the tides began to rises higher.

With these fishermen struggling to get back, the boat in which they were travelling toppled. At this time they were just an hour away from the shore, but they had to begin battling for their lives. While few managed to reach the shore with wooden planks and glass, few others also lost their lives.

Out of the 28 members, only eight could save themselves from deep waters. They spent a whole night floating in the sea. Later two other people died in the furious water. The other fishermen managed to stay their along filling courage in each other.

A security forces ship spotted these fishermen during the early hours of 12 November and helped them out of water. They were provided with medical assistance in the ship. The four fishermen who survived the whole journey are Vinod Ambiga, Bhaskar Ambiga, Manjunath Ambiga and Govind Ambiga from Kumta taluk. They have sustained injuries on chest, hands and legs.