4 rescued, 23 stuck on barge in Karnataka

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Mangaluru: Four workers were rescued by the Indian Coast Guard, while 23 workers were stranded on a flooded barge in the Arabian sea off Ullal in Karnataka's west coast, police said on Saturday.

"A Coast Guard ship rescued four of the 27 workers on Barge Ibis, while 23 of them were still stranded when rescue operation was called off due to inclement weather," Mangaluru Deputy Commissioner of Police K.M. Shantaraju told IANS.

Ullal near Mangaluru in Dakshin Kannada (South Canara) is about 350km from the state capital Bengaluru.

The Coast Guard ship Amartya, which brought the four rescued to the shore, will resume the operation on Sunday to save the remaining 23 men stuck on the barge.

"The Coast Guard swung into action when it received a distress call at 5:00 p.m. from the workers on the barge, located at 4km south of Old Port Mangaluru, " said Shantaraju.

The workers on board the dregder were engaged in its operations when it got flooded by choppy sea water.

"On assessment of the weather condition in the area, Amartya lowered its inflatable rubber boat to the barge but could rescue only 4 workers due to bad weather," a Coast Guard official told IANS on Saturday night.

The rescue operation was terminated in view of strong winds and heavy swell in the area.