Mumbai: Six female tourists and 2 minors from different parts of India were among the 13 victims who lost their lives in Wednesday’s maritime disaster when an Indian Navy speedboat crashed at high speed into a passenger ferry off Gateway of India, officials said here on Thursday.
They are — the two minors Nidhish Rakesh Ahire, 8-year-old boy (Nashik), Mahi Sairam Pavra, 3-year-old girl (Dhule); besides the five women — Harshada Rakesh Ahire, 31 (Nashik), Shafina Ashraf Pathan, 34 (Goa), Rama Ratidevi Gupta, 50 (Palghar), Pragnya Vinod Kamble, 39 (Navi Mumbai).
The other males who drowned in the catastrophe include T. Deepak, around 40, and Mahendrasingh Vijaysingh Shekhawat, 31, both with Indian Navy (Mumbai and Raigad), Rakesh Nanaji Ahire, 34 (Nashik), Pravin Ramnath Sharma, 34, (Andhra Pradesh), Mangesh Mahadev Kelkar, 33 (Thane), Mohammed Rehman Qureshi, 35 (Bihar) and Deepika Neelkanth Wakchaure, 50 (Mumbai).
A full-fledged search has been resumed this morning to trace out at least two others who are still ‘missing’, said the BMC Disaster Control on Thursday.
In one of the worst-ever maritime disasters around Mumbai, while 13 people were killed, another 113 were rescued when the chockful ferry ‘Neelkamal’ was going from Gateway of India to Elephanta Isles, the famed UNESCO World Heritage site.
An official said that the Indian Navy, Marine Police and other agencies have deployed their vessels to search the two persons who were thrown into the waters after the deadly collision in mid-sea, around 5 km from the Gateway of India, in the water channel near the tiny Butcher Island oil terminal.
Of the 113 who were rescued and still in different hospitals in Mumbai and Raigad, the condition of 100 is now stable while 2 others are still untraced in the Arabian Sea.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis plus several Opposition leaders across party lines condoled the gruesome tragedy and the loss of innocent lives.
The PM announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh and the CM announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh, respectively, to the kin of each deceased, plus financial-cum-medical assistance to all the injured victims.
(IANS)
