Widows and kin of the three fishermen in Ramanthurai and Mulloorthurai coastal villages in Kanyakumari district, who were killed in the ship-boat accident off the Munambam harbour in Kerala, are yet to recover from the shock. While the bodies have been buried, the future of the families is at stake. The tragic incident has affected them psychologically and is also affecting them economically as their breadwinners are gone. Some of the families are interdependent and the death of the fishermen and fishermen who are missing will not only affect their families but also other dependants, said South Asian Fishermen Fraternity (SAFF) general secretary Churchil. Among the three was R Yuganathan, 46, of Ramanthurai, the sole breadwinner of the family. He and his wife Vijula, 41, have three unmarried daughters. Both Anisha, 22, and Ancy, 20, could not study beyond standard XI and X respectively as their father could not pay their fees. He had enrolled his youngest daughter Aswini, 18, in a private college at Ammandivilai for BCom first year. However, being a self-financing college, she will have difficulty in continuing studies. The family is also worried about getting the three girls married without Yuganathan. Another fisherman who died was Sahayaraj (son of Simon), 46, of Mulloorthurai. It was a double tragedy for his wife Violet Mary, 41, as her brother Sahayaraj (son of Sesayan), 32, who went fishing in the same boat is also missing and feared dead. Violet Mary is the mother of two boys, Sahaya Sarjai Dasan, a class 11 student, and Aswin Thoson, who is in class 8. The death of her husband will also affect the family of her elder sister, who Sahayaraj has been supporting after her husband died many years ago. Violet Mary’s brother Sahayaraj did not get married as he was supporting the families of his five sisters. Among the seven fishermen of Ramanthurai who are missing are three brothers, B Yesubalan, 36, B Rajesh, 29, and B Dinesh, 25. Yesubalan is also one of the two partners of the two-year-old trawler boat (estimated at about Rs 1 crore) that was sunk by the cargo ship, said Churchil.Yesubalan’s eldest son Absin Balan, 8, is searching for his father while his two brothers, Asvin Balan, 5, and Sarjin Balan, 2, have no idea why many are coming to their houses to mourn. Their mother, Mary Sweetlin Subha, 27, and their uncle Rajesh’s wife Josephine, 25, are sisters. Meanwhile, the incessant rains that flooded waterbodies and reservoirs in Kerala has affected the search for the nine fishermen who went missing after a cargo ship crushed their trawler boat 45 in the wee hours of Tuesday. Officials from Tamil Nadu who are camping at Munambam harbour said that torrential rains across Kerala and opening the sluices of reservoirs have resulted in heavy outflow into the sea turning the sea very rough. Fisheries officials supervising and assisting the search have been directed to carry out safety measures of the local coastal population. Despite these conditions, INS Sunayna, INS Sutlej, ICGS Aryaman and Vikram were continuing search for the missing fishermen and remains of their boat. A Dornier was also on standby mode to be deployed for the search when the weather is favourable. Relatives of the fishermen continued their search in five fishing vessels. Families of the fishermen who were killed and had gone missing in Ramanthurai village led by Killiyoor MLA S Rajesh Kumar resorted to a fast at Ramanthurai on Friday afternoon.