Goa: 42 rescued from river cruise boat, dinghy amid rough seas

Panaji, Oct 23 (PTI) As many as 42 persons were rescued after a river cruise boat and a dinghy got stranded among rocks off Aguada Bay in North Goa on Thursday evening.

Lifesavers of Drishti Marine, a state-appointed agency, carried out the operation in rough seas amid a thunderstorm, officials said.

There were 38 tourists onboard the river cruise while four persons were travelling in the dinghy when both the vessels hit rocky patches, they said.

The India Meteorological Department had already issued a yellow alert for rough weather along the Goa coast, Drishti Marine said.

A team of 12 lifesavers launched a rescue operation using a rigid inflatable boat and jetskis. However, approaching the stranded cruise boat directly from the sea proved too dangerous due to the rocks and strong currents, it said.

Lifesavers Mahesh Chalwadi and Laxmikant Komtekar swam across to the boat carrying a safety rope and established a rope line to the shore. Using this lifeline, tourists were safely evacuated through the rocks and crashing waves to Aguada beach, it said.

As the operation was ongoing, a distress call was received from the dinghy which had also been caught in the rocks. The lifesavers rescued them too.

The staff at the nearby Aguad Jail and Port complex provided ropes, lights and other equipment to aid the operation, the agency said.

Lifesavers Aakash Fulkar, Pratap Naik, Mahesh Chalwadi, Laxmikant Komtekar, Ramakant Kankonkar, Manguesh Gawas, Amit Mahale, Umesh Madekar, Gaurav Gawde, Ajay Singh, Kartik Naik and Hemant Basera were involved in the operation, the agency said. PTI RPS KRK