Barge P305 tragedy: Families of deceased identify bodies

The Prajapati family was devastated after the body of their 28-year-old son, who worked as a welder on the ill-fated barge P305, which sank on May 17, due to Cyclone Tauktae, was identified at Sir JJ Hospital on Saturday

The Prajapati family was devastated after the body of their 28-year-old son, who worked as a welder on the ill-fated barge P305, which sank on May 17, due to Cyclone Tauktae, was identified at Sir JJ Hospital on Saturday.

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The deceased Krishna Kumar Prajapati’s body was identified by his cousin Anil, 33, who was also on the same barge but had returned to land on February 28. “It was his bad luck. My cousin Anup, 22, who also worked as a helper on the same barge, was brought to land 10 days before the cyclone, as his parents were unwell. Krishna also wanted to return. He had not seen his one-year-old son for eight months. However, he did not get leave,” said Anil.

“It was my destiny that my passport expired in March and I had to return in February to renew it. During the lockdown, I managed to earn more money selling vegetables, hence I did not return to the barge, where I made a mere ₹20,000,” said Anil.

“Krishna had sent a message on May 16, ‘cyclone ki wajah se barge full out hai (due to the cyclone, the barge has moved away from the rig). After that, there was no interaction with him. He was the only son and earning member of the family. His father is a farmer in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh and makes ₹600 per day after 12 hours of duty. He gets ₹150 to ₹200 extra after working overtime for three to four hours,” added Anil.

Anil had visited the hospital on Thursday and Friday too, in search for his cousin, however, Krishna’s body arrived on Saturday.

There are several others like Anil who wait the entire day at JJ Hospital to get clues about their missing family members.

Anil Yadav came from Surat on Friday to search for his 32-year-old brother-in-law Santosh Yadav who worked as an electrician on barge P305. Yadav, along with his two relatives have been visiting the hospital every day in the morning and wait till the night. “There is no update till now,” said Yadav. Santosh, a native of Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, has three children- two sons and a daughter, aged between 11 to 6 years.

Similarly, family members of Ranalucky Kumar, 28, who was a technician on the barge, have also been making regular visits at the hospital since Thursday, to enquire about him. Kumar had jumped in the sea, during the cyclone, when the barge was about to sink. “He has not been found yet,” said his cousin Rana Singh, who was on another barge Trinity Nissi. Singh works as a technician and was also deployed in the same area at the high sea. However, his barge, carrying around 250 people, returned due to the cyclone and anchored near Mumbai harbour.

“Few of them were released on May 19 from Trinity Nissi barge after we fought with the employer that we wanted to go Mumbai to search our family members. Others had to return to work soon after the impact of the cyclone ended,” added Singh.