For the past 48 hours, a team of 50 personnel aboard nine Indian Navy and Coast Guard ships has been scouring the waters off the Mumbai coast in search of seven-year-old Zohan Pathan, the last missing passenger from the ill-fated Neel Kamal ferry. The ferry capsized after it was struck by a Navy speedboat during an engine trial on Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of 14 people, including Navy personnel. Zohan is the only passenger who remains unaccounted for.
“Six Navy and three Coast Guard surface craft are engaged in the search and rescue mission, which will continue until the boy is found. The search covers a vast designated area,” a defence spokesperson said.
The search operation has been challenging, as the incident occurred during a full moon, causing strong sea currents. This led authorities to deploy helicopters initially, but since then, the Navy and Coast Guard have continued their search with nine vessels working non-stop.
The rescue efforts are mandated to last 72 hours from the time of the incident, but officials said that they will persist in their efforts as long as necessary.
Besides, three patrol boats have been deployed by Mumbai’s port zone police for the search. “Police have also roped in fishermen and taking help from other agencies such as Mumbai port trust to trace the missing boy,” a senior police officer said.
Zohan’s mother Sakina Pathan drowned in the ferry mishap, and Zohan was last seen in her arms. The Pathan family, residents of Mapusa, Goa, had come to Mumbai for work and had planned a brief vacation. Their journey turned tragic just hours after they boarded the ferry from the Gateway of India on Wednesday, heading towards Elephanta Island. The boat was reportedly overloaded, and Ashraf Pathan, Zohan’s father, recalled the lack of safety precautions. “…We could see that the boat was overloaded. I was holding our ten-month-old baby and my wife Sakina was holding Zohan. After the accident occurred,my wife, I and other members were unable to find any life jackets,” Ashraf told The Indian Express.
Even as he survived with his younger son and sister-in-law Sonali Gaunder, Sakina breathed her last on Wednesday. She was taken to INHS Sandhani hospital in Karanje, Navi Mumbai. For the postmortem, the body was then sent to Uran rural hospital. On Thursday, the family collected her remains from the Uran rural hospital and left for their hometown in Goa, where her last rites were performed.
With Ashraf away in Goa for his wife’s funeral, his friends have stayed back in Mumbai and have been keeping him abreast of any updates on Zohan. However, until Friday afternoon, Ashraf had not received any updates about his son.
A kindergarten student, Zohan was slated to join the first grade next year. Sonali had earlier told The Indian Express that the family was slated to return to Goa after their sojourn within the next two days. “While we survived, the loss of Sakina has left us devastated. We have been told that a missing persons case has been filed at Colaba police station. Even though it was the Navy’s boat, officials have given us no updates,” she said.
According to the family, they also lost cash worth `15,000-20,000, Sakina’s purse, other valuables and their bags containing some recent purchases.
The ferry capsize near Karanje on Wednesday has claimed 14 lives so far. While 13 deceased victims had been recovered within hours of the crash, the 14th, Hansaaram Bhati, was retrieved from the seas on Thursday evening.
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