Saturday 27 / July / 2024
Muscat: A crew of Indian sailors rescued after their boat sank have yet to return home to India.
“They are still here. We are waiting for local authorities to clear all the papers required for them to fly back,” according to members from Pravasi Jalan, an India social organisation in Jalan.
“Today, one of the sailors was not feeling well. He had a fever and cough. We took him to hospital and bought medicines,” social organisation members added.
The sailors were on board the vessel, which was heading to Yemen from Sharjah with 69 cars, food items, cooking oil and tyres, when it sailed into rough waters in Jalan near Sur.
Said Al Gamboosi, a 45-year-old Omani fisherman in Jalan, alongwith his friends, rescued the sailors from the sinking cargo vessel.
It took some five hours for Al Gamboosi and friends to rescuethe Indian sailors from the sea.
Meanwhile, Salah Al Zarahi, his son Nasser Al Zarahi and two other Omanis from the same village are providing the stranded Indian sailors with accommodation and food, free of charge.
Responding to the Times of Oman’s story on Al Gamboosi’s bravery, Indra Mani Pandey, the Indian ambassador to Oman, said the Indian embassy will find an occasion to honour his bravery.
On July 22, a vessel carrying plastic had sunk off the Masirah Island, with thousands of plastic items washing ashore near the beach where turtles were nesting on the island. The 800-tonne cargo vessel had 17 sailors on board and wasalso transporting livestock to Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates, from Gujarat, India.
