Rescuers hunt 51 missing persons after cyclone sinks barge

India, (Reuters), 19 May 2021- Naval vessels and aircraft scoured the waters off India’s west coast on Wednesday after the most powerful cyclone in more than two decades battered the region, sinking a barge and killing 22 aboard, authorities said.

Cyclone Tauktae unleashed waves of up to 25 feet (7.6 m) offshore before it hit the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat during the past two days, leaving a trail of destruction that killed 61 others, authorities said. The search for the 51 still missing from the barge accident will run through the day, navy spokesman Mehul Karnik told Reuters. “The search and rescue effort continues,” he said in a statement.

The barge, with 261 people on board, sank after the storm smashed into the Bombay High oilfield near the financial capital of Mumbai, where India’s biggest offshore oil rigs are located.