KARACHI, June 27: Pakistan Navy continued on Wednesday its rescue operations in the open seas and along the coastal belt, rescuing nine more people from the Gadani area.

An ISPR press release said that two Alouette helicopters airlifted eight people who had been trapped on the rooftop of a mosque in a village in Turbat after a Navy Fokker F-27 that flew over the coastal areas in Balochistan located them.

The press release said the navy plane flew over the entire Balochistan coast looking for people trapped in the sea. The rescue operation was initiated on the basis of this information.

It said that following media reports about trapping of some people at Gadani coast, two Sea King helicopters were sent and nine people were rescued and safely shifted to PN Airbase PNS Mehran.

The press release said that the PNS Tariq was continuing the search and rescue operation about 116 nautical miles south of Karachi. Another large-scale search and rescue operation was being carried out along Balochistan’s coastal areas, it added.

Two frigates, PNS Nasar and PNS Tariq, Alouette and Sea King helicopters and Atlantic and Fokker aircraft are taking part in the rescue operation. About 350 people had been trapped in Agore, about 180 kilometres from Karachi.