Bhubaneswar:
A boat with 42 pilgrims, which went missing off Orissa coast on Monday evening, has been located. The passengers and crew are all safe. They had taken shelter in a mangrove forest.
The passengers, including 10 women and eight children, were returning from a pilgrimage to a shrine in Bhadrak district.
"The boat has been traced by one of the rescue teams in a forest area between Chudamani and Kasia and all the passengers and crew are stated to be safe," Bhadrak district Superintendent of Police J N Pankan told PTI over phone.
The mechanised boat had anchored at the spot due to some technical problem in the vessel, he said.
Arrangements were being made to bring back the stranded people, who were said to be in "proper condition", he said.
Members of Trawler Owners' Association of Chudamani, which took part in the rescue operation, said the passengers and crew were in good health and they would undergo a medical examination.
District Collector K C Patra, who rushed to the area along with the SP and other senior officials, said no contact could be established with those travelling in the boat as there was no network at the place where it had anchored.
The boat was traced after a massive rescue operation was conducted since Wednesday by vessels of Coastguard, DRDO and Dhamra Port Copmany Ltd (DPCL), he said. Local fishermen and trawler operators had also joined the rescue work.
Rescue operation was hampered due to rough weather and rains caused by a low pressure over the bay. An aircraft and helicopter requisitioned for the job were unable to join the operation, Patra said. (With PTI inputs)