Mon 17 May 2021:
Some 127 people were missing on Tuesday after a vessel adrift off Mumbai’s coast sank during Cyclone Tauktae, the Indian navy said as two ships and helicopters were deployed to assist in the search.
The vessel was carrying 273 people when it started drifting on Monday as strong winds battered India’s western coast, sending huge waves crashing onto its shores and turning roads into rivers.
Cyclone Tauktae: Indian Navy engages in multiple search and rescue Missions along Indian West Coast https://t.co/Bp2cG8kEMb @rajnathsingh @adgpi @PIB_India @PIBHindi @indiannavy @IAF_MCC @drajaykumar_ias @shripadynaik pic.twitter.com/cwhenctRlq
— A. Bharat Bhushan Babu (@SpokespersonMoD) May 17, 2021
The defense ministry said 146 people were rescued from the vessel, which was operated by a state-run oil company, with operations expected to continue throughout the day in “extremely challenging sea conditions”.
Tauktae made landfall in Gujarat late Monday as an “extremely severe cyclonic storm” packing gusts of up to 185 kilometers (115 miles) per hour, the Indian Meteorological Department said. It weakened to a “very severe cyclonic storm” by Tuesday morning.
Tens of thousands of people were evacuated while authorities in Mumbai shifted about 600 Covid-19 patients in field hospitals “to safer locations”.
