An Eelam Tamil family of five, including three children, have arrived in Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu after having been stranded for almost two days without food or water.
Indian Marine Police, rescued the family, which includes a six-month-old infant, and brought them in a boat to the shore.
According to the officials, they were identified as Sabrin (33), his wife Radhika (32) and children Sajith (7), Salma (3) and Sagin (6-month-old). They all come from Mannar.
The family were taken to Mandapam Rehabilitation Camp.
Speaking to The Hindu, Sabrin said "that they had hired a boat three days ago from Sri Lanka. When they started sailing in the vessel, the Sri Lankan Navy personnel opened fire".
“With great difficulty, we reached the Indian shore, but remained stranded. We did not have food and drinking water was also insufficient. My little kids were almost starving.”
The family cited the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka as having fuelled their attempt to flee island.
The Mandapam Rehabilitation Camp has a total of 175 refugees who have fled Sri Lanka since March of this year.
