Three boys feared drowned in Marve creek

Two others rescued; out to play football, swept away while trying to rescue friend; search operation stopped for the night

Three boys, out of the four who ventured into the water to rescue a friend, are feared drowned in Marve Creek in Malad West on Sunday.

Search operation launched for the three boys feared drowned in Marve Creek at Malad on Sunday Morning. Two other boys have been rescued. (VIJAY BATE/HT PHOTO)

All the five boys are aged between 12 and 16. While two of the five have been rescued, a search operation has been launched for the missing three.

The missing boys have been identified as Shubham Rajkumar Jaiswal, 12, Ajay Jitendra Harijan, 12, and Nikhil Sajid Kayamkur, 13. The two rescued boys are Krushna Jitendra Harijan, 16 and Ankush Bharat Shivare, 13.

The four boys were trying to save a friend who had ventured into the water to wash his hands after a game of football and was swept away by the current.

The five boys are residents of Pareira Wadi in Malwani. Till late on Sunday, several locals had gathered around the creek, along with the grieving families of the missing boys, anxiously waiting for updates.

The search operation was halted by the Indian Navy and Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) personnel at 9pm as it could not be carried out during nighttime, the authorities said adding, the operation will resume around 8.15am on Monday after the arrival of a team of divers from Colaba.

According to Malwani police and the MFB officials, the incident happened between 8.30 and 9am on Sunday. When the locals realised that the five boys who ventured into the sea were missing, they began looking for them and were able to rescue two boys. The fire brigade then launched a search operation.

Chimaji Jagannath Adhav, senior police inspector of Malwani police station, said that the two boys who were rescued are stable and the police have recorded their statements.

Adhav said that after playing football, one of the boys went towards the creek to wash his hands and ventured into the water. However, due to the pull of the current and the slippery sand beneath his feet, he could not hold his ground.

“Krushna, who is the eldest of the lot and the older brother of Ajay, told us that when they noticed that their friend was swept away by current, they got into the water one by one to save him. However, as the current was powerful, only Krushna and Ankush managed to stand their ground and were saved by the locals,” said Adhav.

Krushna said that as his father worked in the UAE and their mother had left for their village, they had been staying with their grandmother and met with friends every day to play. He added that it was only on weekends and holidays that they went to the jetty to play.

In his statement, Krushna said, “I tried to save my brother and the others but could not as the tide kept pulling us in. I managed to hold my ground even as the sand was slipping beneath my feet was being pulled into the creek. We never imagined that the current would be so strong near the jetty.”

“The rescue team had started searching by helicopter which was stopped. We do not understand why they have not been able to recover the boys yet,” said a neighbour of the boys. “We cannot believe that the boys are gone.”

The MFB officials said three divers from INS Hamla, a flood rescue team boat and the boat of a local fisherman was pressed into the operation.

Ravindra Ambulgekar, the newly appointed chief fire officer said, “The search is being carried out by fire brigade’s flood rescue team with their boats, divers from the navy and the Coast Guard. Air force’s helicopters are also being used. Two teams of seven firemen each are a part of the search operation.”

Ambulgekar said that the incident happened at Malad creek and not at the beach. “It is Marve jetty area. In the rainy season, boys usually play in the mud. Then they go to wash their feet and enter the water. At Marve jetty, the entire creek has slippery sand and stepping on it can be risky,” he said.

Ambulgekar also said that Marve jetty was a ‘No Man’s Land’ and the police restrict people from entering the creek. The area also has an army base and is out of bounds to the public.

“But boys being boys, they are rebellious. Generally, they are from lower middle-class families, and it is their idea of fun. Due to heavy currents, they got pulled in. Once one is caught in the current, it becomes difficult to get out and the area has no lifeguards,” said Ambulgekar.

This is the third incident of drowning in a month. In the last two incidents, a woman drowned last Sunday at Bandra Bandstand and the first incident was reported on June 13 at Juhu Koliwada beach where four boys drowned.