‘For 15 minutes…’, the ship of ‘death’ was coming at speed, passengers told the story of Mumbai boat accident

Mumbai Ferry Accident: Mumbai ferry accident survivor Ganesh, 45, says that when he saw a speed boat-like boat speeding towards the ferry on whose deck he was standing, the thought came to his mind that something unpleasant could happen. . At least 13 people were killed while 99 others were rescued after a Navy speed boat collided with a boat off the Mumbai coast on Wednesday afternoon.

Ganesh said, “The boat, which later turned out to be a naval boat, was circling in the Arabian Sea, while our boat was heading towards Elephanta Island, a popular tourist spot near Mumbai. I boarded the boat at 3.30 pm.” He said, ”For a moment the thought came to my mind that a naval boat might collide with our boat, and in the next few seconds it happened.”

Ganesh said he was standing on the deck of the ill-fated Neel Kamal boat at the time of the accident. Ganesh, a resident of Hyderabad, is among the 99 people rescued after this accident. He told that there were more than 100 passengers including children on the boat. He said, “After buying the ticket at 3.30, I boarded the boat and went to the deck.” Ganesh said, “When I was looking at the Arabian Sea and the Mumbai sky, the boat was about eight to 10 minutes from the shore. Km away, I saw that a speed boat-like vessel was circling near our boat at full speed.

Navy personnel dies due to leg amputation

He told that a naval personnel traveling in the boat died due to his leg being amputated in the accident. He told, “As soon as the boat collided with our boat, sea water started coming into our ship, after which the captain of the boat asked the passengers to wear life jackets because the boat was about to capsize.” Ganesh said. ‘I took a life jacket, went up and jumped into the sea.’ He said that he kept swimming for 15 minutes when he was rescued by another boat nearby and brought to the Gateway of India along with other people.

He said that rescue teams of Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Police had reached the boat within half an hour of the collision. He told, “I was in the first group of 10 passengers rescued.” Bengaluru resident Vinayak Matham was also among the lucky ones who survived the accident. He told ‘PTI-Bhasha’ that he was aboard the ill-fated boat along with two of his colleagues.

There were not enough life jackets in the boat – passengers

He said, “At first I thought the Navy craft personnel were out for fun, because their boat was circling around our boat.” He said, “There were not enough life jackets in the boat. “When the passengers boarded the boat, they should have been given life jackets,” he said.