- Thursday, December 19, 2024
The collision with the navy speedboat happened near Butcher Island, nearly 45 minutes after the passenger ferry left the Gateway of India
By: Shajil Kumar
TWO passengers, a man and a child, were still missing a day after a Navy craft carrying out engine trials rammed into their ferry off Mumbai coast, police said on Thursday.
Of the 113 people on board both the vessels, 13 died and 98, including two injured, were rescued, they said.
The two missing people have been identified as 43-year-old Hansraj Bhati and seven-year-old Johan Mohammad Nisar Ahmed Pathan, the police said.
A search operation was underway with help of the Navy and Coast Guard, they said.
Thirteen people, including a Navy personnel and two contractual naval employees, were killed when the Navy craft dashed against the passenger ferry ‘Neel Kamal’, carrying more than 100 passengers from the Gateway of India to Elephanta Island, on Wednesday afternoon.
The collision occurred near Butcher Island, nearly 45 minutes after ‘Neel Kamal’ left the Gateway of India, according to sources.
A first information report (FIR) under relevant sections of the new criminal code BNS was registered at the Colaba police station in Mumbai against the Navy speedboat driver and others responsible for the tragedy, an official said.
The FIR was filed on a complaint lodged by survivor Natharam Chaudhary (22), a resident of Mumbai’s Sakinaka area, he said.
The BNS sections invoked in the FIR included those related to causing death by negligence, actions that endanger the personal safety or life of others, rash or negligent navigation of a vessel and acts of mischief that cause wrongful loss or damage to individuals or the public.
The police released the names of ten of the deceased who have been identified.
They are: 1) Mahendra Singh Shekhawat (Navy); 2) Praveen Sharma (worker on NAD boat); 3) Mangesh (worker on NAD boat); 4) Mohammad Rehan Qureshi (passenger boat); 5) Rakesh Nanaji Ahire (passenger Boat); 6) Safiana Pathan; 7) Mahi Pawara (aged 3); 8) Akshata Rakesh Ahire; 9) Mithu Rakesh Ahire (aged 8) and 10) Deepak V.
Two women and a male victim were yet to be identified, according to the police.
This was the second accident involving the Navy in less than a month.
On November 21, INS Karanj, a submarine, collided with a fishing vessel, FV Marthoma, in the Arabian Sea off the Goa coast, killing two people.
First responders’ reactions
The drivers of some boats who rushed to help the ferry tragedy victims off the Mumbai coast were aghast to see chaos and said they never witnessed such a horrific incident in their lives.
Arif Bamane, a driver of the Mumbai Port Trust (MBPT) pilot boat Poorva, said, “When we reached there, the situation was tragic and completely chaotic. People were screaming for help, and some were crying.”
He recalled a small girl lying motionless as water had entered her lungs.
The driver and other rescuers performed chest compressions on her and helped her breathe again. Slowly, her breathing became normal, he said.
Bamande said they prioritised rescuing women and children.
A fishing trawler and another tourist boat already arrived at the scene before them, the driver said.
Bamane said he and his team were heading to Mumbai from Jawahar Deep on Wednesday evening when the control room gave the information about the accident.
They were instructed to reach the spot near JD5 as quickly as possible.
He said their boat had only four people aboard, but they did their best to rescue the stranded individuals before other boats arrived. Among those crying for help, there were three to four foreigners, he said.
“We tried to save as many people as possible,” Bamane said, adding they rescued about 20-25 persons, who were later transferred to naval boats that arrived at the scene.
With 18 years of boat driving experience, Bamane said he had witnessed small rescue operations before but Wednesday’s incident was the most horrific and tragic.
“This is the biggest rescue operation that I have seen so far,” he said.
Iqbal Gothekar, the driver of a small tourist boat, told PTI that 25 to 30 minutes after his boat departed from the Elephanta Island at 3.35 pm, he learned about the incident and was one of the first to reach the accident site.
The people on the capsized boat were frantically waving their hands for help, said Gothekar, a Raigad district native who has been a boat driver since 2004.
He said by the time they reached the spot, a fishing trawler also arrived.
Gothekar said his boat rescued 16 persons, bringing them safely to the Gateway of India. The rescued individuals were taken to a police post.
“In my career, I have never witnessed such an incident,” Gothekar said while recounting the tragedy. (PTI)
