Cyclone Tauktae final toll in Maharashtra stands at 86, all bodies recovered from Arabian Sea

Gallery

MORE...

Sports

Freya Deshmane wins gold in first Winter Horse Show organised by Amateur Riders’ Club

Freya Deshmane riding on Reinroe Adare Acrobat claimed the top spot and clinched the gold

Salah sets Premier League record in Liverpool's draw at Newcastle

India Open Competition in Shotgun begins in Jaipur, paving way for Nationals' qualification

Hockey India names Amir Ali-led 20-man team for Junior Asia Cup

Harmanpreet Singh named FIH Player of the Year, PR Sreejesh gets best goalkeeper award

World Boxing medallist Gaurav Bidhuri to flag off 'Delhi Against Drugs' movement on Nov 17

MORE...

Cyclone Tauktae final toll in Maharashtra stands at 86, all bodies recovered from Arabian Sea

Last Updated : 24 May 2021 12:20:15 AM IST

Cyclone Tauktae final toll in Maharashtra stands at 86, all bodies recovered from Arabian Sea

Exactly a week after the devastating Cyclone Tauktae struck Maharashtra, a total of 86 bodies have been recovered from the Arabian Sea, including 70 from the two vessels that sank near Bombay High Fields, an official said here on Sunday.

Barge Papaa-305 and tugboat Varaprada sank in the Arabian Sea during the cyclone fury and a total of 86 crew members and oil workers died.

While there were 261 persons on board Papaa-305, 13 others were on board Varaprada, an anchor-handling vessel.

A total of 188 survivors - 186 from Papaa-305 and two from Varaprada -- were picked up at sea during the massive India Navy-led search and rescue (SAR) operations which lasted for seven days, the first half being in extreme weather conditions.

In the past week, 70 bodies were recovered from the Arabian Sea by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard.

Besides, over the last couple of days, eight bodies have been recovered, after they were washed ashore on the Raigad coast of Maharashtra, while another eight were found from the Valsad coast in Gujarat.

"All 274 reported missing have been accounted for. Final confirmation, however, will be pending till the identification of all bodies are complete," the officials said.

The navy's teams of expert divers and specialist ship INS Makar located the wreck of Papaa-305 late on Saturday, and a search is still on for tracing the wreckage of the tugboat.