20 November,2023 04:50 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
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A tug boat carrying 20 workers collapsed in the Vaitarna river on Monday morning in a tragic occurrence in the Palghar region of Maharashtra, leaving at least two people missing and 18 others rescued, according to local authorities.
The accident happened at around six in the morning while the workers, who were working for a company building the JNPT-Vadodara Expressway, were on board the tug boat. The boat was navigating the river to make it easier to build a bridge that is part of the expressway project.
An official who was present at the scene said that during the trip, the boat took an unlucky turn and flipped over in the middle of the river, plunging all of the workers into the water.
The district administration, police, and fire department were promptly notified of the tragic situation and promptly rushed to the scene to begin rescue attempts.
18 employees have been successfully evacuated thus far, but two are still unaccounted for, raising concerns. The person in charge of the operation said that rescue activities are still underway, with the fishing community, local authorities, and residents all actively participating in the search and recovery campaign.
The community has united to assist the coordinated rescue efforts during this difficult period, with the goal of finding and rescuing the two missing individuals.
Earlier in August, a boat capsised off Mumbai's Versova coast in the Arabian Sea; the incident resulted in the death of one fisherman, while another went missing. The third individual managed to swim to safety, a PTI report stated.
According to the report, the trio had embarked on their fishing expedition from Devachiwadi in Versova between 8 pm and 9 pm a day before the boat overturned approximately two to three kilometres from the shoreline.
Identified as Vijay Bamania (35), one of the fishermen successfully swam to safety. Unfortunately, the body of Vinod Goel (45) was discovered during the subsequent search operation, while Usmani Bhandari (22) remains missing, the PTI report stated.
The search operation was called off in the afternoon because high tides hampered the operations, despite the involvement of multiple organizations, including the Fire Brigade, police, Navy, lifeguards, and a helicopter.
On Sunday, three family members perished in a separate tragic occurrence while taking a dip in the Muvattupuzha river. Johnson, 59, of Arayankavu, his niece Jismol, 15, and nephew Aloshi, 17, all perished in the river's undercurrents. Luckily, none of the other family members who were travelling were hurt.
The bodies were recovered, according to the police, following a two-hour search that began after the family reported the tragedy to the locals and authorities.
