MUMBAI: A day after a Navy speedboat rammed a ferry heading to Elephanta Island from Gateway, the toll rose to 14 with the recovery of body of a 43-year-old Malad resident.
The search for seven-year-old Zohan Pathan – the other missing passenger – continues even as police and naval authorities probe the reasons behind the crash and identity of the person handling the speedboat. It had recently undergone engine replacement and was being tested.
On Thursday, Maharashtra Maritime Board began enforcing rules mandating life jackets for passengers and crew on ferries. Colaba police said the ferry boat, Neel Kamal, had capacity for 84 passengers & six crew but was overloaded & carrying over 100.
Boat operators, meanwhile, questioned Navy’s reluctance to stop the practice of carrying out tests of their vessels in ferry navigation area.
Officials Thursday confirmed that of the 14 killed in the collision off Gateway, post-mortem on 10 from the ferry headed for Elephanta was conducted at Indira Gandhi rural hospital in Uran. Autopsy of a naval sailor and three employees of a private firm, who were on the speedboat which lost control & collided with the ferry, were performed Thursday.
According to Colaba police, which registered an FIR against the speedboat driver for causing death by negligence, they will write to the Navy for details about the vessel and its occupants.
Authorities confirmed that one naval sailor perished along with three employees of the speedboat manufacturing firm. The second sailor sustained serious injuries and is receiving treatment at INHS Asvini. Officials indicated a navy sailor was operating the vessel, though confirmation is awaited on the basis of the injured sailor’s statement.
“Both Navy sailors were accomplished swimmers,” said navy sources. Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Dinesh Tripathi, conveyed condolences to the bereaved families and wished for swift recovery of the injured. In a statement, Indian Navy confirmed that eight navy craft and an aircraft, supplemented by a Coast Guard vessel, conducted search and rescue operations December 18-19 night. Navy has initiated a Board of Inquiry to probe the incident.
