At least 49 personnel onboard barge P305 that went adrift in Cyclone Tauktae fury before sinking in the Arabian Sea are dead, Navy officials said. So far, 186 of the 261 people who were on board the barge and two others on tugboat Varaprada have been rescued. Search operations are underway for over 35 people (26 on barge P305 & 11 on tugboat) still missing.
The Navy on Thursday morning launched a fresh aerial search and rescue mission, deploying helicopters to scour the waters off Mumbai coast four days ago. Indian Navy ships worked through the night, using searchlights to trace any movement in the pitch dark waters to look for survivors. The search operations would continue for another three days at least, Indian Navy Commodore Ajay Jha said.
