Mumbai: Three drown in Powai lake at pre-Christmas boat party

A houseboat party turned into a tragedy Three people died when their feery boat turned over However five people survived at PowaiThree persons among a group of seven died on Friday night when the boat they were on on the Powai Lake overturned after hitting a rod and a fishnet placed in the lake The three who died have been identified as Dinesh Bhoir 34 Atif Latif Khan 22 and Rashool Khan 43 Family members of the deceased said that the men most of whom are in the construction business met each other around six months ago This was the first time they were partying togetherThe party was thrown by Rashool a Ghatkopar based businessman who wanted to host his friends on a houseboat parked on Powai Lake The party say Powai police By Saturday night all three bodies were recovered The police say the party began at 7 pm and aside from Dinesh and Atif Rashools nephew two others mdash Deepak Patil 24 and Naresh Patil 46 mdash reached the jetty on time From here they were ferried on a boat to the houseboatWhile the bodies of Asif Khan 22 and his uncle Rashool Khan 43 were recovered by 5 pm on Saturday search was still on for Dinesh Bhoirs body PicDatta KumbharAt around 1030 pm two other friends Kunal Patil 35 and Paresh Pancholi 34 arrived at the jetty and the boatman Abbu Mandal 21 headed off to ferry them back to the houseboat However the rest of the group also got on to the boat When the group had picked up the two and was returning to the houseboat the boat which is driven by oars hit a divider mdash that is constructed in the lake to prevent idols immersed during Ganesh Puja from slipping deeper into the lake mdash and overturned All the occupants of the boat were thrown into the lake While the rest managed to take support of the floating boat or swim to the shore Dinesh and Asif couldnt and drownedAlso read Mumbai Baby drowns after mother carrying her falls into seaRashool say the survivors was a good swimmer and had managed to swim ashore but heard Dinesh and Asif shouting for help Speaking with midday Rashools brother Faiz Khan said He was a good swimmer He swam to the bank but went back to rescue his friends We had the habit of helping people in need and may be thats why he counted his friends lives over his Rashool is survived by two children and his wifeKunal Patil with his wifeAbbu who is being kept under observation at the Powai Polyclinic and Hospital stated that before the incident he had made two trips from the houseboat to the jetty and back On the third trip all five friends decided to accompany him He admits that the boat was further imbalanced by the presence of eight persons on it Ideally there should be no more than six passengers on the boatWhen the boat turned over Naresh and Deepak swam across while Panchal Kunal and I took support of the boat As it was also drowning we started shouting help Then a nearby boatman rescued us he added While Abbu claims that the friends had consumed alcohol the Naresh said that this was not true and that all friends were in their sensesThe deceased Atif Khan and Dinesh BhoirAtifs aunt Noorja said he was excited about the party and had even uploaded a picture on the social media site Snapchat He always wanted to go on a houseboat party We never knew it would take his life she said Kunal who bought a house few month back and has a twomonthold daughter said that he was lucky that he survived though he doesnt know how to swim Dinesh and Rashool who knew how to swim didnt make it but I survived I am really feeling sad for them he saidEvery year thousands of Ganesh idols are immersed in the lake so the base of the river is filled with the remains of the idols This say the police prevented the rescuers from conducting a thorough search for the bodies While Atifs body was recovered at 350 pm on Saturday Rashools was recovered at 5 pm We have sent swimmers and continuously floating nets to catch the bodies but the bodies have got stuck between the idols Also due to the remains of the idols the swimmers are unable to search deeper Its also possible that when the three fell in the waters they got stuck between the idols and were unable to free themselves said an officer who didnt wish to be identified