Boat with around 40 students capsizes, all students rescued

Maharashtra, Jan 13 : All the 40 students of a local college who had set out on a ferry boat off Dahanu Coast which capsized mid sea on Saturday were rescued following a massive rescue and relief operations, district authorities said.

District Disaster Control Officer Vivekananda Kadam told UNI that the occupants of the boat were students of the K L Ponda College who had gone on a ride in the boat in the sea. The boat developed a snag and capsized at around 1200 hrs.

Immediately, District Police and the locals rushed in and saved the students. Initially around 35 children were rescued from the high seas and later a frantic search was launched for the others were rescued.

The officer informed that the rescued children were taken to local Cottage Hospital for immediate first aid after which they would be discharged if found fit, the officer said.

District Collector Dr Prashant Narnawre immediately upon getting the message of the boat capsize pressed into service the Disaster Management team to carry out the rescue and relief operations.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA Manisha Chowdhary who hails from Dahanu and alerted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and sought assistance from Coast Guard helicopters for the search operations.

When contacted, the school officials said the students had on their own gone after the college timings for a jolly ride on the boat. The incident happened after at 1100 hrs, after the college hours, they said. As the students had gone on their own after college hours none of the teaching staff accompanied them, it was stated.

There was a piquant situation in Dahanu for quite some time when the news of boat carrying around 40 students spread like wild fire. However, later the situation became normal.