Worried parents on Mumbai ferry planned to throw children in sea water: CISF rescuers

New Delhi: The panic-stricken parents onboard an ill-fated tourist ferry were thinking of tossing their children into the sea water as a desperate measure after their boat started sinking off Mumbai, but a team of CISF marine commandos stopped them with an assurance that everyone will be saved.

CISF constable Amol Savant (36) and his two colleagues became the "first responders" after the December 18 accident. Their patrol boat reached the accident site off the Mumbai coast around 4 pm, and they decided to utilise the "golden hour" for first saving the most vulnerable, including the children.

Fourteen people were killed after a Navy boat rammed into the tourist ferry -- 'Neel Kamal' -- on way to the Elephanta Island from the Gateway of India in Mumbai late Wednesday afternoon.

"We were on routine patrol at some distance off the shore when our walkie talkie crackled to inform us that a passenger ferry was sinking. I asked the pilot (speed boat driver) to go full throttle and we reached the accident site about 3-4 kms away in no time," Savant told PTI here.

He said he was "astonished to see the accident site. But being a trained soldier, I understood what was to be done and how." "We saw people were ready to throw their children in the ocean water thinking that they would be saved from the sinking ship. I asked them not to panic and not attempt this. We took charge of the situation soon," said the jawan, who is posted with the CISF unit that guards the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Navi Mumbai.

Savant said he too was "shaken initially when he reached the site but then when I saw the children hanging dangerously from whatever was left of the sinking ferry and their helpless parents, I and my colleagues just caught hold of the children and brought them in our boat."

The jawan says they rescued about 6-7 children in the first go followed by women and men.

"There were many hands raised towards us, some screaming, some just requesting to save them. We don't know how many exactly but we were able to help and rescue as many as 50-60 people who were onboard that ill-fated ferry," Savant, who joined the CISF in 2010, said.

Sub Inspector (SI) Kheioka Sema (38), posted with the CISF unit that provides counterterrorist security cover to the JNPA, was in the second patrol boat that reached the spot.

"I saw a lady who was in the water wearing a life jacket but she had raised her hands in anticipation that she would be rescued. We rushed to her and gently asked her to put her hands down else the jacket would slip and she would start drowning," Sema said.

She was saved, he said.

SI Sema, who joined the paramilitary force in 2018, said they administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to maybe 10-12 persons to bring them back to senses and drain out the water they had swallowed.

The two CISF personnel, who had come to Delhi for official work, said a foreigner couple onboard the ferry acted as 'Good Samaritans' as they came forward for help and administered CPR to a number of victims.

"We fanned out to scan about a 300-metre radius looking for life. Our teams also picked up bags, life jackets and other stuff from the ocean water the passengers of 'Neel Kamal' were carrying," Sema said.

The two personnel and their other colleagues have been trained in marine operations, commando tactics and amphibious survival and combat techniques.

"Our personnel who are posted to guard sea ports are essentially trained in marine commando operations, combat and survival techniques. They provide an armed security cover to such facilities against any sabotage or terrorist threat," CISF chief spokesperson and Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Deepak Verma said.

"These men and women are also taken to the Chilika lake in Odisha as part of a special marine training capsule. We are proud of these personnel who were part of the rescue operation in Mumbai," he said.

The force, as per officials, will recommend the names of the personnel who were involved in this rescue operation for the 'Jeevan Raksha Padak' (or the life saving medal) apart from granting them the highest recognition in their service records.

"The accident site was way beyond the area of responsibility of our two security units deployed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) and the Mumbai Port Trust but the personnel displayed fine professionalism and devotion to duty by being the first responders to the tragedy and saving numerous lives," a senior CISF officer said.