15 days on, captain of sunken barge P-305 still remains untraced; 188 rescued
15 days on, captain of sunken barge P-305 still remains untraced; 188 rescued
Captain of barge P-305, that sank in the Arabian Sea off the Mumbai coast in the wake of Cyclone Tauktae, is still missing even after a fortnight since the tragedy.
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UPDATED: June 2, 2021 01:02 IST
INS Kochi rescuing crew members of the barge that sunk in the Arabian Sea as Cyclone Tauktae wreaked havoc. (Photo: Indian Navy)
Barge P-305 sank off the Mumbai coast on May 16 as the powerful cyclone intensified and passed through the Mumbai coast towards Gujarat.
After a week, the Indian Navy called off the search and rescue operations but the families of missing persons want the nearby islands to be explored too.
MUMBAI: The death toll on barge P305 which sank during cyclone Tauktae fury rose to 70 on Sunday with the recovery of four more bodies, the Navy said, adding it is continuing the search for 16 more believed missing from the barge and tugboat Varaprada.
The list of those missing may get a lot shorter if it is confirmed that the 14 bodies recovered along the Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts in the last few days are those of the barge and tugboat personnel, an official said.
“Those found ashore are yet to be identified,” the official said. While eight bodies were recovered on Raigad coast in Maharashtra, six were found on Valsad coast in Gujarat.