Eight of the 10 fishermen who fell into the Bay of Bengal after their boat capsized on Tuesday, are missing. Two of them have been rescued by other fishermen.

Senthilkumar and Kalidoss of Natarajapuram in Rameswaram, along with eight others, visited Cuddalore on September 2 for purchasing a country boat.

After completing the transaction, they sailed towards Rameswaram in the new boat. When the vessel was about to cross the Kottaipattinam coast in Pudukottai district, it capsized.

Senthilkumar and Kalidoss managed to hold on to plastic cans and were spotted by another fishing vessel around. They were rescued and handed over to the Coastal Security Police at Sethubhavachatram.

The names of the missing fishermen were given as Muniyandi, Ranjithkumar, Madhan, Lankeshwaran, Tharaikudiyan, Gandhi Kumar, Muneeswaran and Umakanth of Rameshwaram.

An intense search operation has been launched for the missing fishermen.