New Zealand immigration officials said that they were looking for 32 Indian Catholic pilgrims who have gone missing during a stopover on their way to Australia for the World Youth Day.


The Department of Labor said it was working with the Catholic church in New Zealand to look for the pilgrims, who went missing soon after arriving last week on their way to Sydney.


A total of 220 Indian Catholics were given one-month visitor visas for New Zealand and they were due to leave for Australia tomorrow.


The 32 pilgrims have gone missing over the past four or five days, the department said.

While they had the legal right to remain in New Zealand until their visas expired, the department, which is in charge of immigration, said it wants to ensure they continue their trip to Australia as previously arranged.


More than 100,000 foreign pilgrims are expected in Sydney for this week's celebrations, which begin on tomorrow and end with a papal mass on Sunday.