Drones are not being used to search for a man who went missing from a sandbank on Friday because authorities are not certain whether he got lost at sea, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has said.
Thasleem Mohamed, 43, an employee of the Male' City Council went missing on Friday from a sandbank near Kaafu atoll Huvafenfushi island.
MNDF Spokesperson said the search operation is led by the police. Although authorities are not certain Thasleem went missing at sea, MNDF divers had searched an area of 5000 square feet by snorkelling and 3000 square feet by diving around the sandbank.
When questioned why the drones were not being operated, the MNDF Spokesperson said the "incident has not been classified as a maritime search and rescue incident as it has not been confirmed that the man went missing at sea”.
However, the Spokesperson added that snorkelling was done at the request of police.
The MNDF used unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones only once in a search operation for a missing person since the drones were launched on March 15, six months ago.
The drones, which were purchased from Turkey for USD 37 million from the state supplementary budget, were used in the search operation for a boat that went missing near Meemu Raiymandhoo island on April 20. The boat was found near Raiymandhoo 14 hours after the drones were put in operation.
The drones have not been used in incidents since then. The MNDF has not given an official answer to repeated requests for the reason for not using the drones.
Thasleem's family told Adhadhu that a missing person report was submitted to the police and the MNDF on Friday.
The sandbank is quite large and another group of people were also visiting at the same time as Thasleem and his friends.
"The people who accompanied him on the trip have stated that he was last seen around 10:00 am to 11:00 am yesterday [Friday]," police said.
Police have made a public appeal to contact Himmafushi Police Station at 9794639 for information about Thasleem or if any persons had visited the sandbank on Thursday and Friday.
