accounted for(Eds: Updates with fresh inputs and quotes)Mumbai, Jan 14 (PTI) A day after a ferry capsized in theDahanu creek in Maharashtra's Palghar district, the CoastGuard, which had resumed the search operations this morning,subsequently called them off after confirming that 32 of the35 students on the boat were rescued while three drowned.
The police had yesterday said that three girls drownedand five were feared missing after the private boat, "DahanuQueen", carrying around 40 students on a picnic capsized offthe Dahanu coast.
The boat was carrying students of the Ponda School andJunior College in Parnaka in Dahanu when it capsized,Superintendent of Police, Palghar, Manjunath Singe had said.
A Coast Guard (CG) spokesperson had yesterday said that atotal of 35 students were accounted for and that searchoperations were on to trace those missing.
The total number of students on board the boat was notconfirmed yesterday.
However, a senior CG officer today said the boat wascarrying 35 students, of whom three drowned.
"There were 35 students in the capsized boat, of whomthree drowned. We have rescued all the remaining students andsent them for treatment to the local hospitals," VarunAugustya, CG Commandant, Dahanu Station, told PTI.
He added that the CG decided to call off the searchoperations after the school authorities and districtadministration confirmed the exact number of students on theboat.
"We had deployed one interceptor craft, along with twohelicopters, yesterday. We continued with them today as wellbefore we called off the operations," Augustya said.
He added that their counterparts in Daman assisted in thesearch operations.
The commandant said the CG was now focussing itsattention on the rescue operation to trace the missing crewmembers of the Pawan Hans helicopter, which had crashed offthe Mumbai coast yesterday.
The helicopter, with seven people on board -- five ONGCofficers and two pilots -- had crashed minutes after it tookoff for the state-owned company's oil installation in theArabian Sea.
Earlier in the morning, a CG helicopter took off tosearch the waters around the Dahanu creek.
The CG station at Dahanu coordinated with the localauthorities and school staff before confirming the number ofstudents on board the ill-fated boat.
Three persons, including the owner of the boat, werearrested by the Palghar police late last evening.
The deceased girls were identified as Sonal BhagwanSurati, Janhavi Harish Surati and Sanskruti Mayavanshi, allaged 17, Singe had said yesterday.
All three were residents of Masauli in Dahanu's AmbedkarNagar area. PTI VT ND GK NSKRC.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.