Five senior citizens drown at Silvassa

Mumbai: Five Mumbai-based senior citizens, including four women, drowned after the boat they were travelling in capsized in a lake at Silvassa, Dadra Nagar and Haveli around 6.45 pm on Tuesday. The deceased were part of a 24-member senior citizens’ group that was visiting the Khanvel resort in Silvassa. The group was there on the personal invitation of the owner of the resort, Nirmal Jain — who is from Mumbai — and police sources revealed that Jain himself was allegedly steering the boat. The Khanvel police has registered a case of criminal negligence.

The deceased have been identified as 72-year-old Vipen Shah, a resident of Nepean Sea Road; Sunita Kothari (65), a resident of Aaravli Ridge road (near Walkeshwar); Panna Shah (55), a Marine Drive resident; Veena Kamal Bhola, a resident of Mahalakshmi; and 70-year-old Pallavi Shah, from Walkeshwar.

According to police sources in Silvassa, the ferry had been newly purchased by Jain, and he had invited his relatives and friends from Mumbai and other places in Maharashtra for its first ride, which was when the mishap took place.

At the time of the incident, the ferry was carrying 31 people, which included 24 guests and seven crew members including Jain. The local police said that the rescue operations commenced immediately due to which several lives could be saved. The survivors were rushed to a hospital in Silvassa. The police sent the bodies of the victims for a post-mortem and handed them over to

their relatives on Wednesday morning. Superintendent of police, Silvassa, Pramod Kumar Mishra, said, “A criminal negligence case has been registered, and the boat is being taken out of the water. A mechanical inspection will be conducted and the statements of eyewitnesses will be recorded. There has been no arrests as the investigation is underway.” Despite repeated attempts, the family members of the deceased refused to answer calls.

“A boat carrying 25 tourists capsized in Dudhni lake on Tuesday evening. Five of them drowned and others were rescued,” said Praful Patel, the administrator of the Union Territory.

The lake is situated outside the town. Mr Patel said the boat had been newly purchased by the resort owner, and he had invited his relatives and friends from Mumbai.