Kaup tugboat incident: All nine labourers rescued

Mangaluru: All the nine crew members of the tug boat that got stuck among rocks off the Mulky coast here were rescued on Monday in a joint operation by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard.

Indian Coast Guard DIG S B Venkatesh said all nine crew members of the tug boat -‘Coromandel’ have been rescued and the mission completed.

The Indian Air Force and the coastal police also played a part in the rescue operations.

Five members were rescued by the speed boat of Indian Coast Guard and four people were airlifted by the helicopter of the Indian Navy which arrived from Kochi in the morning, Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner K V Rajendra said.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, in a tweet, thanked the Coast Guard as well as others who took part in the rescue operation.

Nine members of the crew were stranded in the boat that got stuck among the rocks of the coast on Sunday.

The incident came a day after another tugboat ‘Alliance’ contracted by MRPL capsized off the Kaup coast in Udupi district.

Two people died and three others are missing in the mishap, while three survived.