23 aboard sinking barge off Karnataka coast rescued

Mangaluru: All 23 workers still stranded on a flooded barge in the Arabian Sea off Ullal in Karnataka were rescued by the Coast Guard on Sunday, said police.

"A Coast Guard ship rescued all the workers stranded on Barge Ibis. The rescue operation began at 6.30 a.m. and ended at 9.30 a.m.," Mangaluru Deputy Commissioner of Police K M Shantaraju told IANS.

The Coast Guard ship had evacuated four of the 27 workers off the barge on Saturday before the rescue operation was called off due to inclement weather.

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

The workers on board the dredger were engaged in operations when it got flooded.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Minister U T Khader has ordered an inquiry by the Deputy Commissioner of Mangaluru into the accident.