At least 13 dead after naval vessel hits passenger boat off India’s Mumbai

Search-and-rescue operations continuing after an Indian naval boat hit a passenger ferry with more 100 passengers.

At least 13 people died when an Indian naval boat hit a passenger ferry which then capsized off the coast of financial capital Mumbai, officials have said.

More than 100 people have been rescued, Maharashtra state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Wednesday.

The navy said search-and-rescue efforts were continuing.

“An Indian Navy craft lost control while undertaking engine trials in Mumbai Harbour due to engine malfunction. As a result, the boat collided with a passenger ferry which subsequently capsized,” the navy said in a statement on X.

“I pay my heartfelt tributes to those who died in this accident”, Fadnavis said, adding that “we share the grief of their families”.

The 13 dead included one naval servicemember and two representatives of an equipment manufacturer taking part in the tests, the navy said.

A military helicopter flies over a ferry during a rescue operation after a passenger boat capsized off the coast of India’s financial capital Mumbai [Reuters]

Local TV channels showed a boat carrying at least five people hitting the passenger vehicle, causing the accident.

“The speedboat crashed into our boat and water started entering our boat and it overturned. The driver asked us to wear lifejackets,” a passenger on board the vessel told ABP Majha news channel.

“I swam for 15 minutes before I was rescued by another boat,” said the passenger, who did not identify himself.

“The boat mishap in Mumbai is saddening. Condolences to the bereaved families,” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X late on Wednesday.

Modi also announced an ex gratia payment of 200,000 rupees ($2,356.63) from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the next of kin of each deceased in the boat accident and that the injured would be given 50,000 rupees.

The privately owned passenger boat, called Neelkamal, was heading towards the Elephanta caves, a popular tourist destination off the coast of Mumbai, when it capsized, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said.

The caves, which see a steady stream of tourists throughout the year, are a UNESCO heritage site and were constructed in the fifth and sixth centuries AD.

Boats from the Gateway of India, Mumbai’s southernmost point, make regular trips to ferry tourists to the site, an hour away.