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EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
VADODARA, Sept 16: Twelve people, including four children aged between 6 and 9, drowned when an overcrowded boat capsized in the Termoda creek near Umargaon in South Gujarat around 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday. An uncertain number of people survived by swimming to safety.
The boat was reportedly carrying more than two dozen people of a `Mahyavanshi Mandal', who were on their way to immerse a Ganpati idol. Most of the dead belonged to the one village of Khatalwada, and included two of the boat-owner's sons.
Resident Deputy Collector B Rehbar said the rescue work ended around nine a.m., but admitted that exact figures on the number of people travelling by the boat were not available. However, no one was reported missing.
According to Rehbar, no policeman was present at the immersion site because the ritual was expected to end a couple of days later. No one from the Khatalwada village had intimated the police about their immersion schedule, he added.
Valsad Police Control room sources said the immersion was to take place on Friday, but could not say why the schedule was changed. Deputy Superintendent of Police Ishwarbhai Patel, however, asserted that immersions normally began on the third day of Ganeshotsava.
About how the mishap occurred, an officer said the passengers lost their balance when the boat tilted, and fell into the water. The boat was in an upright position when rescuers reached the spot.
The police came to know of the incident a couple of hours after it had occurred. Soon afterwards, the Valsad nagarpalika, the Janseva Hospital and the Ekta Charitable Trust rushed their resources to the site. Two navy boats were also pressed into service. Divers from Valsad and Udwada helped in rescue operations.
Interestingly, with the exception of a couple of survivors who had breathing trouble, others who managed to swim to the shore -- either on their own or with the help of rescuers -- fled the spot, apparently to avoid the police. A fisherwoman who reportedly helped save eight lives could not be traced either.
Two survivors -- Hasmukh Wadekar and Jignesh Surti -- were brought to Sanjan and Shraddha hospitals in Sanjan. Their condition was reported to be stable after they were administered artificial respiration.
While 11 bodies were found before midnight, one was found on Thursday morning, after rescue operations continued through the night. They include Kaushik Mahyavanshi (30), Hemant Kamdi (29), Jitendra Mahyavanshi (26), Rakesh Mahyavanshi (17), Vipul Surti, Virendra Surti, Manish Mahyavanshi (13), Uchit Kamdi (7), Sunil Machhi (6), Rohit Gandhi (6) -- all from Khatalwadi village -- and Rakesh Mahyavanshi (23) and Rahul Kamdi (9).
Rehbar said the victims would get State government compensation as per the norms. His staff could not collect details from the families as all were busy with the cremation. All the bodies were cremated simultaneously in Khatalwadi.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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