Boat capsize: two bodies found,nine feared drowned

“The incident happened around 6 pm on Sunday when a group of pilgrims were returning after visiting goddess Dharavi Temple at Uttan. The group was from the Shiv Shakti Mandal,a local citizens group from Vasai that organises social events,picnics and pilgrimages. While some of the pilgrims had swam to safety,nine of them are feared dead and their bodies are yet to be recovered. Two bodies of middle-aged men were recovered on Sunday evening by the rescue teams,” said police inspector Ravindra Naik of the Vasai police station.

The two bodies recovered on Sunday night have been identified as those of Kashinath Koli (45) and Shashikant Patte (40). While Koli was a driver,Patte was a mechanic in a garage in the area,Naik said. “There were no children or women in the boat as they were travelling by another vessel that reached safely. The pilgrims in the boat that capsized were all male,aged between 25 and 40 years,” he said.

Meanwhile,teams from the Coast Guard,Navy,police and a 30-member unit of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are conducting rescue operations.

“The high tide posed a problem on Monday morning as our inflatable rubber boats were unsafe in the fast current. However,post 3 pm,there were joint operations conducted by the Coast Guard,Navy and the NDRF wherein the Coast Guard helicopter did an hour-long recce of the area where the boat had capsized.

The teams also searched the waters in motorboats but no bodies were sighted. While the operations will have to be called off for the night,guards have been posted at the banks to inform the rescue teams as soon as bodies wash up on the shore,” said NDRF Commandant Alok Awasthy.

“While no bodies were sighted on Monday,it will take about 24 hours for the bodies to get bloated and come up to the surface of the water. The pilgrims’ group comprised of fishermen,small-time workers,drivers and garage mechanics. They had reportedly consumed liquor before their return journey and the intoxication coupled with the increased density of salt water rendered them helpless in the sea even though many of them knew how to swim,” said a local fisherman of the area.