Search on for 15 from barge P305, 11 from tugboat
With no trace of 15 personnel from barge P305 and 11 from tugboat Varaprada six days after Cyclone Tauktae fury rendered the vessels adrift, the Navy on Saturday deployed specialized diving teams to boost the search and rescue operations (SAR) off Mumbai coast. The teams on board INS Makar with side-scan sonar and INS Tarasa sailed out early morning today from Mumbai.
Eleven more bodies were recovered on Friday
The death toll on barge P305 that sank in the Arabian Sea on Monday reached 60 on Friday with the recovery of 11 more bodies even as the Navy and the Coast Guard continued the search for the 15 missing personnel from the barge and 11 from Varaprada. When contacted, an official said that updates on overnight SAR operations are awaited.
Hopes of finding survivors are diminishing
"Hopes of finding more survivors of the Cyclone Tauktae fury have receded," an official said. Of the 261 personnel who were on barge P305, 186 have been recovered so far. Of the 13 persons on Varaprada, two have been rescued.
440 persons from two barges, one ship have been rescued
While all 440 persons on barges Gal Constructor and Support Station 3 (SS-3) and drillship Sagar Bhushan were brought ashore to safety, Naval and Coast Guard vessels and aircraft scoured the waters off the Mumbai coast as the search operations entered the sixth day on Saturday. INS Kochi, INS Kolkata, INS Beas, and INS Betwa, among other navy ships, are involved in the operations.
Police will investigate why barge remained in water despite warnings
Mumbai police has announced that it will conduct a probe as to why the ill-fated barge remained in the turbulent area despite warnings about the cyclone. The police has also registered accidental death reports in connection with the death of the personnel on the barge.
Cyclone Tauktae caused massive destruction on the west coast
Cyclone Tauktae has already wreaked havoc in several parts of the country. After causing severe devastation in Goa, Karnataka, and Kerala, and claiming the lives, the cyclonic storm hit the Gujarat coast on Monday evening. Remnants of the storm coupled with western disturbance resulted in record rains in Delhi on Wednesday. Uttarakhand too witnessed unprecedented rains the next day.
