Missing Orissa boat found, all 42 pilgrims safe

Jajati Karan , CNN-IBN
Posted on Oct 07, 2010 at 09:42 | Updated Oct 07, 2010 at 11:50
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Bhubaneswar: The boat that had gone missing in the Bay of Bengal near Dhamra port in Orissa’s Bhadrak district for 48 hours has been found. All the 42 pilgrims on board are safe. One of the rescue boats found them stranded near a mangrove forest. Now the boats are on their way back.

A group of 42 people, including several women and children, had gone to visit a temple despite repeated warnings.

"The residents of Nuagaon village had gone in a power boat to visit some nearby temple on Tuesday," said District Superintendent of Police JN Pankaj.

They were last seen at about 5 pm on Tuesday by some fishermen in the sea when they were on their way back, he added.

The search operations were affected due to high tide in the sea and bad weather conditions, he said, adding that the victims might have taken shelter at some nearby areas.

Local authorities have requisitioned a helicopter and also sought the help of Indian Navy and coast guard.

Dhamra port is about 200 km from Bhubaneswar.

(With inputs from agencies) (ibn live)

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