At around 5.30pm on Thursday, Theresa Chauhan (36) received a video call from her sister Mirena – her hair blowing in the wind, smiling, and turning the camera to show Theresa the boat she was on at the Bargi Dam reservoir, 35 km from Jabalpur.
“Look how beautiful this is, Teresa… Look at the dam, look at the water!”
The next call came at 6.07pm. “She was hysterical. She was screaming and crying, saying they were drowning. She asked me to pray for them. She kept saying, ‘Save us, save us,’ and then the connection cut off. She called me several times but no one answered my calls… When she called me at around 5.30pm, no one was wearing life jackets, which was shocking to me, but I didn’t say anything because she seemed so happy as she showed me the sights,” Teresa said as she collapsed at her parents’ home in Delhi. She was. Friday afternoon.
The Narmada Queen – carrying what locals estimated was at least 43 people – capsized at around 6.13pm.
Mirena (39 years old) was on board the plane with her parents Julius (70 years old) and Madhu Masi (62 years old), her husband Pradeep Kumar Verma (39 years old), their daughter Sia (14 years old), and their son Trishan (4 years old). Mirena, her mother Madhu, and her son Trishan did not survive.
Julius said that when the waves hit the boat, Mirena held on to Trishan while Pradeep, who knows how to swim, stayed with their daughter Sia. When rescuers pulled Merina and Trishan from the water on Friday, they were still together — mother and son inside the same life jacket, locked in each other’s arms.
Read also: Panic, floating bodies and neglect: Survivors tell the terrifying Jabalpur boat tragedy
“When the gusty winds hit the ship, water rushed in. A man and I broke the lock to get life jackets. My father-in-law grabbed a tube and reached the river bank. My daughter and I wore jackets and were rescued with ropes. The last I saw was Merina helping Trishan with his jacket when the boat capsized. She hugged him inside her jacket. I have lost everything in this tragedy,” Pradeep told HT.
The divers from Agra, veterans of many rescue operations, wept over what they found. One of the divers told reporters: “We saw a body floating near the wreckage. It was not moving. When we turned it over, everyone cried… The way the mother and son were holding on to each other showed how desperately they were trying to save him.” Siya said: I saw them alive, and now I see their bodies.
Back in Delhi, Teresa is still trying to figure it out. “I found out at 7.30pm on Thursday evening that my mother had died… I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know about the others for a while. It wasn’t until Friday morning that I learned that my sister and nephew had also drowned.”
Julius is a retired army officer. Madhu and Merina were housewives. Pradeep works in the media field. Trishan had just started school on April 6. And Sia is in the eighth grade. The family of six had left Delhi on Tuesday to attend Pradeep’s brother’s reception in Jabalpur and decided to take a boat ride on Thursday before returning home on Saturday.
Read also: Jabalpur tragedy: MP tourist boat sailed despite yellow warning, life jackets locked below deck
“The kids, especially Trishan, were excited to sit on the cruise ship… We bought the tickets and were enjoying the ride when suddenly the weather changed… I lost everything,” Pradeep said.
