Hundreds of Curious Onlookers Throng Puri Beach to See Mysterious Container

Bhubaneswar: Hundreds of curious onlookers on Friday thronged the Puri beach in Odisha to see a mysterious container which washed ashore due to high tidal waves.

Some fishermen spotted the container and alerted the district administration.

The local marine police and officials of the forest department immediately rushed to the spot and kept a vigil on the container. Earlier, two containers of a sunken cargo ship ‘MV IIT Puma’ were washed ashore at Satabhaya under Rajnagar police limits in Kendrapara district.

The container is believed to contain a huge amount of wax, as hundreds of candle waxes were spotted floating in the water.

A huge amount of food items, mustard oil, saris, clothes, and footwear were earlier found in the two containers.

“We have found an unidentified container at Puri beach. As per the procedure, we have alerted our higher authorities. We are here for verification purposes and have also alerted the Marine Police. A seven-member team will open the container to find out what it contains after orders from the higher authorities in the presence of local police and fire personnel,” informed Puri sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Rabindra Bhanja.

“Two similar containers were also spotted in Kendrapara and Ganjam. Preliminary reports reveal the containers are from a company in Indonesia. We have also alerted the Customs Department and Coast Guard,” he added.

As per reports, at least seven containers of a cargo vessel that was en route to Port Blair from Indonesia have gone missing. The container is believed to be one of those that washed ashore.