AMN/ WEB DESK
Eleven sailors has been rescued from a Mauritian tanker after it suffered engine trouble and began to drift towards Réunion Island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean, where it ran aground.
It took more than six hours to recover the entire crew of the Tresta Star, which got into trouble at about 21:00 local time on Thursday. The rescue operation, undertaken by firefighters, proved to be particularly delicate.
This was because the ship is partially stuck on the reefs as well as the difficult weather conditions linked to the effects of cyclone Batsirai.
Réunion’s top official Jacques Billant hailed the perilous, very technical and unprecedented operation carried out by the rescue teams mobilised in Saint-Philippe, in the south-east of the French island.
The 11 survivors – seven Indians and four Bangladeshis – are all safe. They have been taken to an accommodation centre and are being looked after by a medical team.