Christmas Day Tragedy: Tourist Boat Capsizes Off Goa’s Calangute Beach; One Dead, 20 Rescued

Panjim: Christmas turned tragic for a family from Maharashtra as a 54-year-man died after a tourist boat capsized off Calangute beach in North Goa on Wednesday due to engine malfunction.

Around 20 people were rescued and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, PTI reported quoting a senior police official.

The boat, carrying 13 members of a family from Maharashtra’s Khed and other passengers, capsized around 1.30 pm about 60 metres from the shore, throwing all of them into the sea. Except for two passengers, others were wearing life jackets, police said.

Eighteen on-duty personnel of Drishti Marine Lifesavers rushed to assist the struggling passengers and brought them ashore, a spokesperson of the lifeguard agency said.

According to Sanjay Yadav, in-charge of the lifeguard agency, said 6 people from the same family, who were trapped under the boat, were in critical condition. “Of those 6 people, one has died,” he told PTI.

Police have registered a case of unnatural death by drowning and are investigating the mishap.

The incident comes a a week after a Navy speedboat undergoing engine trials lost control and crashed into a passenger ferry near Mumbai’s Gateway of India, killing 15 persons.