Mother, twin sons among six dead in Srinagar boat capsize; 3 missing
Elderly woman awaits update on her missing son and grandson; man loses wife, twin sons after boat capsizes in Jhelum in Gandbal
Six people, including two children, were killed as a boat carrying students to school on Tuesday morning capsized on the Jhelum in Srinagar, even as authorities set off on frantic efforts to locate three missing people in the river’s cold and choppy waters.
The Jammu & Kashmir capital has been battered by heavy spells of rain since Saturday, swelling the Jhelum’s waters far beyond normal levels and leaving boats in disarray, though authorities had not issued any alerts or warnings.
The Union territory’s administration identified the dead as Firdousa Fayaz (45), her seven-yearold twins Tahir Fayaz and Mudasir Fayaz, Raziya, who goes by a single name (18), Shabir Ahmad Bhat (34) as well as the boatman, Gulzar Ahmad Dar (40).
Six people were rescued, said officials, but added that teams were looking for three missing people – Farhan Waseem Parray (7), Showkat Ahmad Sheikh (40) and his son Haziq Showkat (9) – deep into Tuesday evening. Parray’s mother was among those rescued. All the children on board study in the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Sonwar across the river.
The boat overturned around 8am as it headed east from Gandabal towards Batwara, with 15 passengers on board, said Srinagar deputy commissioner Bilal Bhat. Survivors pointed out that the two banks were just 500m apart, but that they were forced to make the treacherous trip across in rickety boats because the nearest bridge is 2km away. They also added that a footbridge, adjacent to the accident spot, has been under construction for eight years.
The small vessel had no motor and its crew propelled it between the riverbanks by pulling a rope fixed at both ends.
Eyewitnesses said the Jhelum’s violent currents snapped the rope, pushed the boat into an iron pillar erected in the waters for the bridge, breaking it in two instantly.
Over 70mm of rain has pummelled Kashmir Valley since Saturday, pushing the river’s level to 15 feet, close to the warning level of 18 feet. Officials said the river’s level is usually far lower than it was on Tuesday morning, throwing boaters off guard.
“Fifteen people were in the boat when it capsized. Six people were rescued and six bodies were retrieved till afternoon. A search is on for three missing people,” Bhat said.
Local residents jumped in to save the passengers, said officials, and were soon joined by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and police teams.
Srinagar senior superintendent of police Ashish Mishra said the river’s sharp currents were impeding rescue efforts.
“The water is turbid and there are under- and over-currents, so there are difficulties in finding the missing people,” Mishra said. “We have trained personnel to perform such rescue operations and are hopeful of concluding this rescue soon,” he added.
The tragedy ripped families apart and left people desperate for answers and accountability.
Parray’s mother was inconsolable. “The boat was carrying less than the usual number of people today. I was holding his hand. But when it hit the pillar, I lost him. It happened so fast, I didn’t understand what happened,” she said.
SRINAGAR : Forty-five year old Firdousa Fayaz was accompanying her twin sons, Tahir Fayaz and Mudasir Fayaz, both seven, to their school in Batwara on the boat that on Tuesday capsized in the swollen Jhelum river.
The trio, residents of Gandbal, lost their lives in the mishap, while a father and his nine-yearold son remain missing.
The tragedy struck when the boat, tethered to an overhead cable, capsized after the rope holding it snapped.
Neighbours recall Firdousa, a doting mother, always chasing after her kids. “The mother and her two sons were together in death as well. She and her two sons were buried in a single grave,” said Adnan Ashraf, a Gandbal resident. “The father of the kids and husband of the woman has been left alone,” he added.
Six of around 19 people onboard the boat have lost their lives in the mishap, while three others, including the aforementioned father-son duo are still missing.
Besides Firdousa and her sons, the dead include Raziya, a Class 11 student of Kendra Vidyalaya School, the same school attended by Tahir and Mudasir, Shabir Ahmad Bhat, 34, a labour by profession and Gulzar Ahmad Dar, 40.
Search operations are underway to find the missing, Farhan Waseem Parray, a Class 2 student, Haziq Showkat Sheikh, a Class 3 student, and his father Showket Ahmad Sheikh.
The students’ bags were washed away onto the riverside and discovered by residents of Chattabal, around 8 km away from the place where tragedy struck.
Members of the Sheikh family were distraught as they were spotted sitting by the banks of Jhelum at Ganderbal waiting for an update from the rescue teams.
“I am blind. I walk with a stick. What will I do now? Where are you my beloved,” the elderly mother of Showkat Sheikh said.
Farhan’s mother, who was also on the boat and was rescued, was inconsolable.
“The boat was carrying less than the usual number of people today. Routinely more people traverse the river on the boat than today. When it reached the middle it hit the pillar and I lost my son whose hand was in my hand. It happened so fast that I did not understand what happened,” she said.
“I had called Firdousa in the morning saying the water was high, but she said we have seen higher waters,” she added.
Neck-deep in water: Survivors recount horrors
Survivors and eyewitnesses recounted the horrors of the tragedy. Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh, who survived the mishap, said the boat was sailing smoothly when the rope of the boat tethered to an overhead cable, suddenly snapped. The river’s flow was fierce after three days of rains in the past three days and that possibly caused the malfunction.
“When we reached the middle, the rope snapped suddenly and it hit the iron pillar. The boat broke and it capsized,” he said. “I thought it was the end”.
Sheikh got entangled in the rope, which he grabbed to save himself. “Three among us clinged to the rope and the locals brought another boat and we were rescued. We also grabbed a woman who was also saved. Many school children, however, just disappeared before my eyes in the fast moving water.”
Sheikh said they held onto the capsizing boat until help arrived, neck-deep in water.
Notably, the iron pillar that the boat hit was part of the footbridge which was under construction over the river for the past nine years.
Doodnath, a resident of UP who was across the river when the boat capsized, said the impact of the boat with the iron pillar caused it to turn upside down. Fayaz Ahmad, a resident of Gandbal, said the children were trying to cling to the pieces of the wood floating in the water but could not hold up.
SIX OF 19 PEOPLE ON BOARD HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES, WHILE THREE OTHERS, INCLUDING TWO SCHOOL STUDENTS, REMAIN MISSING