Students ignored our warning: Crew member

“I feel lucky that I am safe. Had it not been for my friends on top of the boat, I would have drowned too. One of my friends pumped my abdomen to flush out the sea water and locals rushed me to hospital,” said 18-year-old Moshuda Shaikh as she lay on the hospital bed.

Moshuda, a class XII student and a resident of Lonipada in Dahanu, was one of the many people who were rescued. Shaikh was on the upper deck when the boat tilted. She was drowning when one of her friends pulled her up on the boat. She was later picked up by a fisherman’s boat and ferried back to the shore. Shaikh has been admitted to the Dahanu sub district government hospital for treatment and will be discharged on Monday.

Sonal Tadvi, class XI student, said, “The ferry being close to college, we decided to go for a joyride and reach home in an hour. All of us were excited and the boat navigator kept warning us not go together. But both groups reached at the same time, which led to overloading.”

Prakash Tadvi, father of Sonal, said, “The girls had not informed anyone about their plan to go for a boat ride. We were informed by other students about the incident. My daughter has lost her friend Sanskriti in the mishap.”

Mahendra Hambire, a boat crew member, too has been admitted to the hospital. He said, “I was trying to stop the students from overloading but they did not hear my pleas. We had started the ferry boat service a week back. I and another person managed to escape.”

‘WERE TOO EXCITED’

Sonal Tadvi, class XI student, said, “All of us were excited and the boat navigator kept warning us not go together. But both groups reached at the same time and that led to overloading.”