Thiruvananthapuram | The body of a 42-year-old fisherman, who fell into the backwaters near the Muthalapozhi fishing harbour, was recovered on Tuesday, officials said.

The office of the state Fisheries Minister confirmed that the body of Thomas (Praveen) was recovered in the morning.

The fisherman fell into the backwaters near the Muthalapozhi fishing harbour in Anchuthengu here while returning after fishing in a country boat on Monday evening.

"He suffered an epileptic seizure while he was sitting in the boat, following which he slipped and fell into the backwaters," a coastal police officer said.

A scuba diving team of the Fire and Rescue Services reached the spot and launched a search soon after the incident. The search was suspended during the night and resumed on Tuesday morning, sources said.

The incident occurred amidst massive search operations for three fishermen who went missing in separate boat mishaps off the Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram coasts.

The Indian Navy, Coastal Police and Marine Enforcement Wing were involved in the search for Gautam Krishna, John and Shijin, who went missing in separate fishing boat mishaps at Neendakara in Kollam and Vizhinjam and Muthalapozhi in Thiruvananthapuram on July 31.

The search for the three fishermen entered its 12th day on Tuesday. Chief Minister V D Satheesan and other ministers had met their families on the previous day