3 dead, five missing after boat with 40 students capsizes off Maharashtra coast

Three girls drowned and five were missing after a private boat with 40 students, who were on a school picnic, capsized on Saturday off the coast of Dahanu in Palghar district of Maharashtra.

Police said that 32 students had been rescued and a search for the missing ones was continuing with Coast Guard personnel and local fishermen out at sea.

The bodies of the three girls -- Sonal Bhagwan Surati, Janhavi Harish Surati and Sanskruti Mayavanshi -- all aged 17, were recovered, Superintendent of Police, Palghar, Manjunath Singe said.

All three were residents of Masauli in Dahanu's Ambedkar Nagar area.

The private boat was carrying 40 students of Ponda School and Junior College in Parnaka in Dahanu and capsized around 11.30 am, Singe said.

"The Coast Guard has deployed its ships and aircraft in the rescue operation and personnel from several departments like the coastal police are involved in the search operations," the SP said.

The location is around 20 miles off the Dahanu coast, a spokesperson of the Coast Guard said. Dahanu is located around 130 km from Mumbai.

Among the rescued, three students and the boat driver were admitted to a hospital, the police said.

President Ram Nath Kovind, who arrived in Mumbai on Saturday on a two-day visit to Maharashtra, has offered his condolences to the families of those killed in the tragedy.

"Anguished to hear of boat carrying school children capsizing in Dahanu, Maharashtra. State government has rescued most of the passengers and is making efforts to trace those still missing. My condolences to bereaved families," he tweeted.

Photographs: ANI