Dahanu tragedy: At least three dead as boat carrying 40 students capsizes; boat owner and operator arrested

At least three girls died due to drowning after a private boat with 40 students aboard capsized on Saturday morning off the coast of Dahanu in Palghar district of Maharashtra. Dahanu is located around 130 km from Mumbai.

Police said that 32 students have been rescued and a search for the missing ones is continuing with Coast Guard personnel and local fishermen out at sea.

The bodies of the three girls — Sonal Bhagwan Surati, Janhavi Harish Surati and Sanskruti Mayavanshi — all aged 17, were recovered. All three were residents of Masauli in Dahanu's Ambedkar Nagar area.

ANI quoted a Coast Guard official as saying that weight imbalance may have caused the boat to capsize.

Incident happened at 11 am,boat might have capsized due to imbalance. With coordinated effort of all agencies & local fishermen 32 students were rescued, 2 pronounced dead,1 unidentified body found: Commandant Vijay Kumar, Coast Guard on Dahanu boat capsize incident pic.twitter.com/FUlXk4FQah

— ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

Students of Ponda School and Junior College in Parnaka in Dahanu were on their picnic when the boat capsized at around 11.30 am. "The Coast Guard has deployed its ships and aircraft in the rescue operation and personnel from several departments like the coastal police are involved in the search operations,"  Superintendent of Police, Palghar, Manjunath Singe told PTI.

The boat capsized around 20 miles off the Dahanu coast, a spokesperson of the Coast Guard said.

Among the rescued, three students and the boat driver were admitted to a hospital, the police said. Expressing his condolences, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the injured were admitted to Dahanu Cottage Hospital and Kamble Hospital.

Specialised Rescue teams are also at the site. Coast Guard team is also helping in the search operation. Injured are admitted at cottage hospital and Kamble hospital. Our deep condolences and thoughts are with the families who lost their loved ones : CM @Dev_Fadnavis (2/2) — CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) January 13, 2018

According to CNN-News18, the boatman and the owner of the boat were booked under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code. The owner and operator were arrested by late Saturday evening.

#NewsAlert -- Boat owner and one operator arrested in #MahaBoatTragedy. The second operator will be arrested after he completes his medical treatment. pic.twitter.com/MeDWtZnE5n

— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 13, 2018

President Ram Nath Kovind, who arrived in Mumbai on Saturday on a two-day visit to Maharashtra, offered his condolences to the families of those killed in the tragedy.

#NewsAlert -- Three deaths confirmed so far in #MahaBoatTragedy in Dahanu. Boatman and owner booked under section 304 of the IPC. pic.twitter.com/Nnw9GGPpxd — News18 (@CNNnews18) January 13, 2018

With inputs from PTI