Divers, helicopters search for survivors of Mumbai boat accident that killed 13

Written by Shilpa Jamkhandikar and Shivam Patel

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Helicopters and divers swarmed India’s financial capital Mumbai on Thursday searching for survivors of a boat accident that killed at least 13 people a day earlier, including three seafarers, officials said.

A navy speedboat lost control and collided with a private vessel taking tourists to the nearby Elephanta caves, famous for their rock art. As a result, the boat capsized, but 114 people were rescued.

Of the 114 rescued, 97 were stable, four were in critical condition and 13 died, said the municipal association on WhatsApp.

Coastal and coast guard vessels have joined forces to search the port for at least two people believed to be missing, an adult and a child, said a navy official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The police officer said that the accident happened while testing a new type of speed boat engine.

“It seems that the engine is stuck under pressure, but we will know better when the investigation is completed,” the officer told Reuters.

A navy spokesman did not immediately respond when asked to comment on the remarks.

Television channels showed a speedboat with at least five people on board crashing into a passenger ship.

Water started pouring into the Neelkamal owned by a private company when it overturned, witnesses said, and passengers scrambled to put on life jackets before jumping into the water.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences to the bereaved, offering relief payments of 200,000 Indian rupees ($2,400) to the relatives and 50,000 Indian rupees ($600) to each of the injured.

“The boat accident in Mumbai is sad,” he added in a post to X on Wednesday.

The caves, which are UNESCO World Heritage sites from the fifth and sixth centuries AD, are crowded with tourists who take about an hour’s boat ride from the Gateway of India monument in the southern foothills of the city.

($1=85.0600 rupees)

(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar in Mumbai and Shivam Patel in New Delhi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)