Mumbai Boat Accident Highlights: 13 killed after Navy craft hits ferry boat with 110 on board off Mumbai’s Gateway of India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the boat mishap in Mumbai is saddening after 13 people died after a ferry boat capsized off the Mumbai coast.

"Condolences to the bereaved families. I pray that the injured recover soon. Those affected are being assisted by the authorities," Modi said in a statement on X.

A private ferryboat en route to Elephanta Island in Mumbai capsized after being hit by a Naval speedboat on Wednesday afternoon.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has announced financial assistance worth Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased in the Mumbai ferry accident from the CM Relief Fund.

The mishap will be investigated by the Navy and state government officials, he said.

According to the latest update, 13 people have died after a Naval craft crashed into a passenger ferry.

As the search operation is still ongoing, detailed information will be available by tomorrow, Fadnavis said in a statement.

Doctors are assessing the health of those rescued from the capsized ferry. (Express Photo

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Officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation have confirmed that the death toll has risen to 2.

According to the last update, 75 people have been rescued and the search is on for 5 others.

Currently, search operations for 5 remaining passengers is underway, according to officials.

The remaining passengers have been located and taken to various hospitals.

Officials say that five crew members are reportedly safe.

Indian Navy, Marine Police and other agencies have been roped in after a ferry boat capsized near the Gateway of India.

As per Mumbai district collector Sanjay Yadav, 75 people have been rescued so far.

Of this, 59 people are at Uran, 10 at Dockyard Colaba, and 9 at Gateway of India .

Two others are critical and admitted to Ashwini Hospital f Indian Navy and Dockyard Hospital.

The rescue operation is still ongoing for rest of the passengers.

Around 85 passengers are believed to be onboard the wooden boat.

"A report has been received about an accident involving the Neelkamal boat heading towards Elephanta. Navy, Coast Guard, Port, and Police teams have rushed to the spot for rescue operations. We are in constant touch with the district and police administration, and fortunately, a majority of citizens have been rescued. However, rescue operations are still underway. Orders have been given to deploy all necessary machinery for rescue operations."

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis

Former MLC Jayant Patil on Wednesday said the impact of the speed boat ramming the ferry boat was so strong that the ferry boat broke into two.

Earlier, the owner of the ferry boat, Neel Kamal, said there were 80 people onboard.

According to Mumbai police, the ferry boat departed from the Gateway of India at 3.15 pm.

It was heading towards Elephanta Island with approximately 80 passengers onboard.

Around 3.55 pm, the boat collided with a smaller speedboat.

So far, about 66 people have been rescued.

Officials from the Indian Navy are present at the Mumbai coast near the Gateway of India.

According to preliminary information, the ferry boat was en route to Elephanta, and capsized near Uran, Karanja. (Express Photo)

A batch of rescued persons has arrived at the Gateway of India.

The rescued persons have been escorted to the nearby Colaba Police Station (Gateway of India police chowky).

Authorities have rescued 20 passengers and recovered 1 dead body after a ferry boat carrying nearly 30-35 people capsized near the Gateway of India.

Rescue operations are underway with multiple agencies roped in.

A ferry with nearly 30-35 passengers has capsized near Gateway of India in Mumbai on Wednesday evening. The police did not confirm the number of passengers on board. Preliminary information says that the ferryboat Neel Kamal, en route to Elephanta, has capsized near Uran, Karanja.

NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, weeks after the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was trounced in the assembly elections in Maharashtra by the BJP-led MahaYuti.

Pawar met the Prime Minister in his office in Parliament along with two farmers from Phaltan in western Maharashtra and presented him a box of pomegranates from their farm.

Recently, Pawar had written to the Prime Minister, inviting him to inaugurate the 98th Marathi Sahitya Sammelan scheduled to be held at Talkatora Stadium in the national capital in February.

"I did not broach the topic of Sahitya Sammelan," Pawar said after the meeting with the Prime Minister.

Several persons with disabilities (PwDs) on Wednesday staged a protest outside the Vidhan Bhavan complex in Nagpur against the Maharashtra government to press for their demands, including monthly financial help of Rs 6,000.

The protesters, who gathered under the banner of Vidarbha Viklang Sangharsh Samiti at the entry gate of the assembly complex, raised slogans against the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government in the state and sought a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over their pending demands.

Apart from Rs 6,000 per month financial help under the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana, the protesters demanded Rs 2,50,000 fund for marriage of PwDs, and kiosks to be set up near bus stops to run businesses.

The winter session of the Maharashtra legislature is currently underway in Nagpur.

As many as 6,740 farmers died by suicide in Maharashtra during the two-and-a-half years' tenure of the first Mahayuti government, said Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Legislative Council Ambadas Danve on Tuesday.

He claimed the highest number of these farmer suicides recorded between July 1, 2022, and November 30, 2024, were reported from Nagpur and Amravati districts.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC made these statements while taking part in a debate on Governor C P Radhakrishnan's address to the joint sitting of both houses of the state legislature.

He expressed concern over what he called the "worsening" condition of farmers and accused the BJP-led Mahayuti government, which started its second tenure on December 5, of neglecting their issues.

According to Danve, the state government had promised a Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 6,000 per quintal for cotton, but farmers were yet to receive this amount.

Additionally, he highlighted the government's "failure" to meet the demand for solar pumps.

- PTI

Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Minister Uday Samant on Tuesday said efforts are underway to placate party leaders who are upset over their exclusion from the state cabinet.

Talking to reporters in Nagpur, Samant admitted there may be some unhappiness among party legislators because of the denial of ministerial berths.

Thirty-nine legislators from Mahayuti allies, the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, were sworn in the first cabinet expansion of the Devendra Fadnavis-led government on December 15. Ten ministers in the previous Mahayuti government were dropped, while 16 new faces were inducted into the cabinet.

While the BJP secured 19 ministerial berths, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party got 11 and 9 berths, respectively.

Samant said: "We work as a family under Eknath Shinde. There could be unhappiness if someone does not get a place in the cabinet. It is the responsibility of those who have become ministers to address the unhappiness. We are working on it extensively (to address it)."

Be it Shiv Sena leaders Tanaji Sawant or Vijay Shivtare, Deputy Chief Minister Shinde will pacify them, Samant said about some party leaders being upset over their exclusion from the state cabinet.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday claimed the Centre's move to introduce a bill on simultaneous polls in the Lok Sabha was an attempt to divert attention from issues plaguing the country.

Addressing reporters in Nagpur, Thackeray demanded a transparent election process before implementation of the 'One Nation One Election' proposal.

Even the election commissioners should be elected through polls, the former state chief minister said but did not elaborate on how to go about it.

Thackeray also said that the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government should give Rs 2,100 per month to women under the Ladki Bahin scheme, as promised before the state assembly polls held last month.

Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray called on Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the latter's chamber in the Vidhan Bhawan on Tuesday.

The former state CM was accompanied by Sena (UBT) legislators Aaditya Thackeray, Anil Parab, and Varun Sardesai during the meeting with senior BJP leader Fadnavis.

Uddhav Thackeray, who is a member of the state legislative council, arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday to attend the ongoing winter session of the state legislature.

He will also take part in the Shiv Sena (UBT) legislature party meeting in the evening.

After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (then undivided) snapped ties with long-term ally BJP over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post.

Activist Manoj Jarange on Tuesday announced that he would launch an indefinite fast on January 25, 2025, to press for the Maratha community's demands, including reservation in jobs and education under the OBC category.

Addressing the media at Antarwali Sarthi village in Jalna, Jarange urged members of the Maratha community to gather in large numbers at the protest site.

"No one should stay at home. Come to Antarwali Sarthi, and let us show our collective strength," he said.

The 42-year-old activist has been demanding the implementation of a draft notification that recognises Kunbis as ‘sage soyare' (those related by birth or marriage) of Marathas and granting reservation in jobs and education to the latter under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

The agrarian Kunbi community already gets quota benefits under the OBC category.

The activist, who has launched six hunger strikes in the last one year, stressed that the fast would be voluntary and any member of the Maratha community can participate.