At least 37
personnel, who were on board barge P305 that went adrift in Cyclone Tauktae,
are dead while 38 are still missing, reported PTI quoting Indian Navy official.
The adrift barge sank in the Arabian Sea off the Mumbai coast four days ago. As
far as the rescue operations are concerned, the Navy has managed to rescue 186
of 273 people, who were on board the barge, PTI reported.

Naval ships INS
Kochi on Wednesday morning and INS Kolkata late Wednesday night brought the
bodies of these to Mumbai, a Navy
spokesperson told PTI.

Also Read: After Tauktae, cyclone Yaas heading towards India

Navy ships INS
Kochi, INS Kolkata, INS Beas, INS Betwa, INS Teg, P8I maritime surveillance
aircraft, Chetak, ALH and Seaking helicopters are involved in the SAR
operations, he said.

The Indian Navy ships conducted search operations through the night, using
searchlights to trace any movement in the dark waters. On Thursday
morning, the Navy launched an aerial search mission to look for more survivors
off the Mumbai coast, where the barge P305 sank on Monday 35 miles off Mumbai.

“Chances of
finding more survivors are looking bleak”, another official said.

Mumbai police
have announced that they will conduct a probe as to why the barge remained in
the turbulent area despite constant cyclone warnings, said an official.