Mumbai: As many as 22 dead bodies have been recovered so far from the Arabian Sea after Barge P305 sank off the Mumbai coast due to Cyclone Tauktae, officials said on Wednesday.
184 people have also been rescued so far. The search and rescue operations are still underway.
"184 people totally recovered, ops are still continuing by Naval ships and aircraft. We're still looking out for people in the area. We should be optimistic. Right now the conditions have improved. Hopefully, the worst is behind us," Capt Sachin Sequeira, Commanding Officer, INS Kochi said. The crew rescued by the Indian Navy from Barge P305 walked out of INS Kochi after arriving in Mumbai on Wednesday.
A member of the crew, Amit Kumar Kushwaha said, "The Barge was sinking, so I had to jump into the sea. I was in the sea for 11 hours. After that, Navy rescued us".
Capt Sequeira also shared that they had received inputs of Barge P305 being in distress, approx 35-40 miles from Mumbai.
The Navy's ship too, sailed under very difficult conditions, "storm was just passing west of Mumbai as we arrived on scene we took charge of the situation", he said.
He also added, "With others on-site, we rendered the best possible assistance for the Barge & crew. The ops are still ongoing. We have a large number of naval units on site. My ship has just come back. About 184 people have been rescued, of which 125 are on board my ship".
The Defence PRO informed that INS Kochi and INS Kolkata were returning to Mumbai harbour with rescuees and added that INS Teg, INS Betwa, INS Beas P8I aircraft, and Seaking Helos are continuing with the search and rescue Operations. (ANI)
