The Anwari ferry boat, which was returning from a half-hour sea voyage from the Gateway of India in Mumbai, suddenly broke down about 1.5 nautical miles from the gateway at around 8.30 pm on Wednesday. There were 38 people on board, including 34 passengers and four crew members. Soon after receiving information about the boat breakdown from the Mumbai Police Control Room, Bit No.1 policeman Abhijeet Shinde and Police Naik Guruv immediately gathered information about the boats in the vicinity. During the investigation, it was learned that the ferry boat Azad Hind was near the scene.
Police contacted Azad Hind owner Junaid Mullah and sent his boat to help Anwari. Azad Hind boat reached the spot and towed the damaged Anwari ferry boat and brought it safely to Gateway of India Jetty No. 2 at 9:10 pm. All 34 passengers and 4 crew members on board are safe.
Army boat capsizes in Yamuna river
In another development, the bodies of two soldiers who went missing after an Army boat capsized in the Yamuna river at the Hathnikund Barrage were recovered, police said on Thursday. A search and rescue operation was launched after the boat capsized during a joint watermanship training exercise at the barrage on Tuesday evening.
"The body of one soldier was recovered on Wednesday evening, around 10-15 km downstream from the barrage and the area falls in Uttar Pradesh. On Thursday, the body of another soldier was found more than 150 km away in the Hansi branch canal in Jind district," Station House Officer of Pratap Nagar police station Rohtash said.
Boat got caught in strong currents towards downstream barrage
According to an official statement issued on Wednesday, the boat got caught in strong currents towards the downstream barrage during the training exercise on September 1. Teams made swift efforts to retrieve the boat.
However, it got stuck in strong eddies around the sluice gates and capsized, resulting in the crew being swept away by the strong currents. Two members of the crew went missing after the incident, the statement said.
A joint search and rescue mission involving the Army, Air Force, local police and civil administration was subsequently launched to trace the missing soldiers. The SHO said the search operation had covered a wide area, with Army divers, State Disaster Response Force teams, district administration personnel and private divers involved in the efforts.
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Body of soldier swept in Yamuna during Army exercise at Hathnikund Barrage found in UP's Saharanpur
