Two drown as Indian Navy speedboat rams into passenger ferry in Arabian Sea off Gateway of India (Ld)

Mumbai, Dec 18 (IANS) In a horrific tragedy, at least two persons drowned, and another 108 were rescued from the Arabian Sea when an Indian Navy’s speedboat abruptly on sea trials rammed into a passenger ferry, near the Raigad Coast, off Gateway of India, here on Wednesday evening, officials said.

The passenger boat, reported to be a private catamaran named ‘Neelkamal’, was ferrying around 110 tourists plus five crew members to the world-famous UNESCO Heritage Elephanta Islands, and the disaster occurred around 5.15 p.m., said the BMC Disaster Control.

Official sources said that an Indian Navy’s rigid inflatable boat undergoing engine trials crashed into the ‘Neelkamal’ at high speed, overturning it and throwing most of the tourists into the Arabian Sea near Uran, Karanja on the Raigad coast, around 10 kms from Gateway of India.

The sources said that the ferry, ‘Neelkamal’, may have broken down with the sudden hit, overturned and started sinking with the passengers thrown into the sea.

Videos of the tragedy, clicked by aghast passengers from other ferries in the vicinity showed gruesome shots of people screaming for help, flailing their arms and legs to remain afloat or attempting to hold their near and dear ones from sinking in chilly sea waters.

On receiving the SOS from multiple sources on the disaster, a massive rescue operation was launched by the Indian Navy’s four helicopters and a dozen vessels, the Marine Police, Indian Coast Guard, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, along with local fishers and other ferry boats to save the victims.

By 7 p.m., the authorities confirmed two deaths, four ‘critical’ in different hospitals, and 104 tourists whose condition is reported to be ‘stable’ in various hospitals, and the search continues for another five still suspected ‘missing’ as darkness fell.

Among the fatalities are reported to be one civilian and another naval sailor on the speedboat with six sailors, but the Indian Navy had not commented on the mishap.

It was not immediately clear whether the ill-fated ‘Neelkamal’ was carrying passengers as per the stipulated norms for load and other safety measures.

The owner of the vessel, Rajendra Padte, said that the ‘Neelkamal’ had departed on its regular tourism voyage to Elephanta Islands around 3.15 p.m. and barely a couple of hours later the tragedy was reported, “but it was not our fault”.

“An Indian Navy speedboat first encircled my boat, then zoomed off, and returned again at high speed and banged into ‘Neelkamal’. All the tourists were wearing life jackets which are now compulsory. More than a dozen other boats are engaged in the rescue operations,” a shaken Padte told mediapersons.

A livid Peasants & Workers Party of India (PWP) General Secretary and ex-legislator Jayant P. Patil, who was present at the spot slammed the concerned authorities resulted in the tragedy and the ‘Neelkamal sunk into the water soon thereafter.

Indian Navy sources hinted that a probe is likely to be ordered into the deadly collision that left behind many casualties including two fatalities, amid fears that the death toll could go up later.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made a brief statement in the Legislative Assembly in Nagpur, while Deputy CM Eknath Shinde spoke to Mumbai City Collector Sanjay Yadav and Raigad Collector Kisan Jawale, plus Deputy Commissioner of Police (Ports Zone) Sudhakar Pathare, to expedite the rescue operations.

A civic official said that 56 are admitted at the JNPA Hospital, 32 are in the Naval Dockyard medical facility, one in INHS Ashvini Hospital, nine in St. George Hospital, and 12 are admitted to a hospital on the mainland at Karanja.

Meanwhile, anxious relatives of many of the victims rushed from different parts of Mumbai and other places to the hospitals where their kin were admitted to get details of their welfare, and the Yellowgate Police Station officials, who are handling the case, had a tough time controlling them.

The Elephanta Isles, housing the world-famous group of temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and other Hindu gods and goddesses, that are said to have been cut in rocks between 1,500-2,200 years ago, are one of the must-see tourist destinations of Maharashtra.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: qnajmi@gmail.com)

–IANS

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