Jabalpur boat capsize: Son-in-law broke lock on cabinet with life jackets, staff didn’t help, says father of woman who drowned with child

“I saw Marina and my son drown in front of my eyes. I am tired of thinking and speaking about it,” Prabhakar said.
Julius said that till the very end, he held on to hope that his daughter and grandson would survive.

“We had attended a house warming party a day ago, and wanted to go on a cruise. We were all sitting on the upper deck of the vessel. When water started flooding in, I asked my wife and daughter to move downstairs. I didn’t think straight — that the lower deck would flood first. When tragedy strikes, you lose your ability to think clearly,” he added.

Julius alleged that amid the panic, none of the staff members operating the cruise came to help.

“My son-in-law broke the lock on the cabinet that contained life jackets. We started putting them on… When the boat capsised, I got pushed out as I was on the outer side. I managed to hold on to a tube and get out of the water,” he said.

Julius said that soon he saw his wife’s body being recovered. He still hoped that Marina was alive.

“When they brought her out of the water, she was wearing a life jacket… but she was lifeless. When they removed the life jacket, we found my grandson was wrapped in it too,” he added.

Marina’s brother Kuldeep said the family members were on the upper deck when weather conditions suddenly deteriorated. “My sister was on a video call with us, showing us the view and the water. Then suddenly everything changed. She kept crying, ‘Save me… save me…’ and after that the phone disconnected,” he added.

Jacob, Marina’s elder brother, was in Delhi when he received the news. “…My father said they received no help — there were no divers, nothing. If not for the local villagers, I don’t know what would have happened,” he said.
A colleague of Prabhakar, Karan, remembered Marina as someone who would send food for him. “She would often ask what I wanted to eat, and would send it the next day in Prabhakar’s lunch box.”

On Thursday, a cruise vessel carrying 35 to 40 passengers capsized in the Bargi Dam area of Jabalpur, following a sudden storm that triggered strong winds and high waves on the Narmada river.

According to senior officials and rescue personnel, the sequence of events that led to the accident began even before the cruise started. A weather advisory warning of 40-50 kmph winds had been issued a day earlier. Despite this, the cruise began around 4.30 pm. By around 6 pm, when the boat reached near Khamaria island, weather conditions worsened sharply.

According to eyewitnesses present on the riverbank, they shouted and signalled to the operator to return. Survivors said those warnings were ignored.

By Saturday, 11 bodies had been found and 28 people rescued.