India scours sea after barge sinks, 2nd adrift after cyclone

The Indian navy is working to rescue crew members from a sunken barge and a second cargo vessel that was adrift off the coast of Mumbai after a deadly cyclone struck the western coast

NEW DELHI -- The Indian navy is working to rescue crew members from a sunken barge and a second cargo vessel that was adrift Tuesday off the coast of Mumbai after a deadly cyclone struck the western coast. The navy said it had rescued 177 people of the total 400 on the two barges in the Arabia Sea. Three frontline warships were part of the rescue operations and were scouring seas, the Navy said. Both barges are owned by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, the largest crude oil and natural gas company in India. Cyclone Tauktae, the most powerful storm to hit the region in more than two decades, packed sustained winds of up to 210 kilometers (130 miles) per hour when it came ashore in Gujarat state late Monday. Four people were killed in the state, raising the storm's total to 16.