Balasore: More than hundred passengers were safely rescued after being stranded for five hours in the Bay of Bengal off Odisha's Bhadrak district on Friday, officials said.
The incident occurred when two boats set sail from Chudamani jetty in Basudevpur block for the traditional "Boita Bandana" festival, celebrated during Kartika Purnima. While one boat returned safely, the other vessel got stranded far from the shore due to low tide.
"A joint rescue operation was immediately launched involving the fire department personnel from Bhadrak and Basudevpur, along with local fishermen," said Soubhagya Ranjan Panda, Basudevpur tehsildar.
The rescue teams used country boats to reach the stranded vessel and provided food to passengers before bringing them back to safety. "The entire operation took about five hours, and all passengers were rescued without any casualties," Panda added.