Ferry had floatation kits, but students couldn't remove them

As their ferry began to list dangerously, the students of KL Ponda High School and Junior College in Dahanu made desperate attempts to grab floatation kits kept on the upper deck. But they were not successful as the knots were too tight.

Three girls lost their lives in the tragedy that occurred 2 nautical miles off Dahanu on Saturday, apparently after the students assembled at one particular spot on the vessel to take selfies. The uneven distribution of weight made Dahanu chi Rani keel over, trapping the students.

"Though the owner did not have any life jackets on the boat, there were floaters which could have been used to move the students to the shore. But the floaters were so tightly tied to the safety railings on the upper deck that they could not be removed by the students," said a senior police officer privy to the investigation.

Sources said the police arrived at this conclusion after speaking to Priyanka Gupta, 18, and Sapna Wagh, 17, and two of their male friends. The quick-thinking students rushed to undo the knots to free the floatation kits, but in vain.

"The two crew members including the boat navigator were stuck on the lower deck and could not reach the upper deck to spread the weight and balance the boat," said the officer.

DNA spoke to a few students who were rescued from the boat and were discharged after primary treatment at the Dahanu sub-district hospital. Sisters Eesha and Janvi Waghiya were among them. "Had it not been our decision to hang on the boat, we too would have been drowned because of the tide that slamming into us. I kept holding Janvi's hand until a rescue boat arrived," said Eesha.

The sisters live with their mother at Dahanu. Eesha is in Class XII, while Janvi is a class XI student. "I am sad that i lost my friends in the tragedy. It could have been any of us. It was foolish to go to the upper deck together to click pictures," said Janvi.

District Collector Prashant Narnaware said they will prepare guidelines to avert such disasters and share them with the local fishermen community. "We will carry out a survey on the number of illegal boats operating in the district and submit a report to the state government."

QUICK-THINKING DOESN’T HELP

• Some of the quick-thinking students rushed to undo the knots to free the floatation kits kept on the upper desk after the ferry began to list dangerously
   
• However, the knots were too tight to be untied
   
• In the chaos, the crew could not rush to the upper deck to guide the students