The death toll in the Narmada Queen boat capsize in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh rose to 11 on Saturday as divers recovered the bodies of two children from the Bargi dam, while the boat’s captain, Mahesh Patel, broke his silence and defended himself against the accusations.
He said that when the situation started to escalate, he informed the boat club’s control room.
Patel said he was shocked that people were blaming him, saying he jumped only after all the passengers had exited the cruise, HT reported earlier.
While the survivors had previously claimed that their request to turn around when strong winds started blowing was ignored, Patel defended himself against the accusations, saying he turned the boat right after the winds started blowing. Speaking to NDTV, he said: “God is my witness. No one told me that the wind is getting stronger. Take the boat to the shore.”
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He added: “I immediately turned the boat over, but the storm intensified quickly, and the waves began crashing on the deck, and water began flowing into the ship.”
One survivor claimed that the pilot and crew abandoned the ship before it capsized, leaving the passengers to fend for themselves.
But Patil refuted the claim and said, “The ship sank within a few seconds after passengers rushed to one place to collect life jackets. I was even rescued by locals an hour after the tragedy.”
In fact, Patel said he was the last one to jump off the boat.
The helmsman also told the TV channel that he called the front desk and asked to send another boat, warning them of an impending accident. After alerting the office, he said they began helping passengers put on life jackets.
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However, videos from the incident show passengers being given life jackets, although many have claimed that life jackets were not brought to deck until it was too late.
Patel, who said he has 20 years of experience, has been moving the boat six times a day for years. “I have never seen such an accident. It was the fury of nature,” HT said in an earlier report.
“They were having fun despite the strong waves.”
The helmsman also said he asked passengers to wear life jackets and tried to secure the ship during the storm.
However, he claimed that even when the boat started filling with water, some passengers were dancing. “At that critical moment, I was unable to stabilize it. We were only 50 to 60 meters from the shore when it capsized,” Patel added.
He told NDTV that people were enjoying themselves despite the heavy waves. “What am I supposed to do?” he asked. According to Patel, people “often refuse” to wear life jackets on cruises.
Read also | Panic, floating bodies and neglect: Survivors tell the terrifying Jabalpur boat tragedy
In addition, Patel told the news channel that on the day of the accident, there were only two crew members – him and another assistant – on duty, while the boat usually had three crew members, a pilot and two assistants.
Was Patel, the boat captain, also aware of the weather? According to the Meteorological Office in Jabalpur, a yellow alert for heavy rain has been issued on Thursday. “A thunderstorm warning with gusty winds of 40-50 km per hour has been sent to all district meteorological offices regarding the weather forecast on the morning of April 30,” said Abhilasha Shrivastava, from the Bhopal unit of the India Meteorological Department.
He told the news channel, “No, we were not informed about the weather conditions. The accident occurred about half an hour after the start of the cruise.”
Ideally, pilots of these transports should be familiar with the weather conditions. Survivors also said forecasts should have kept the boat ashore.
However, Mahesh Patel expressed regret over the incident and said that he has not been able to sleep or eat since the tragedy occurred.
Brgy Dam tragedy
The Narmada Queen, a 90-passenger ship run by the MP Tourism Department and in operation since 2006, was carrying more than 40 tourists on Thursday when a violent storm hit around 6pm.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said 29 tickets had been issued, but a local rescuer said more people were allowed on board because it was the last flight of the day.
Rajesh Soni, a survivor who was on the boat with three members of his family, said weather warnings should have prevented the boat from sailing, and that allowing it to sail despite the warnings “was a big mistake.”
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Another survivor, Sangeeta Kori, said life jackets were not distributed when boarding the plane, adding that they were kept somewhere inside. When the crew tried to distribute them as water began to fill the ship, the situation escalated into panic and altercations. Within minutes, the boat capsized, she was quoted as saying in an earlier HT report.
Moreover, locals, who were at the beach, said they were shouting at Patel to come back for 15 to 20 minutes before the tragedy happened. They added that their warnings were not heard.
