Brother Missing After Mumbai Boat Tragedy, Man Makes Rounds Of Hospitals

Jogaram Bhati, 60, has not slept a wink since Wednesday as he is making rounds of hospitals in the city, looking for his younger brother who is one of the two people missing after a Navy craft crashed into the ferryboat `Neel Kamal'.

Hansaram Bhati, 43, a Mumbai resident, was accompanying relatives from Rajasthan who were visiting Elephanta Island when the incident took place off Mumbai coast on Wednesday afternoon.

Speaking to PTI outside Colaba Police Station where he was called by the police for inquiry, Jogaram  Bhati said his brother lived in Malad, a western suburb, and was in the imitation jewellery business.

On Wednesday, Pravin Rathod, the son of Hansaram's brother-in-law, and his wife Nitu, arrived from Rajasthan and wanted to do sightseeing in Mumbai, he said.

His brother took a day off from his work and accompanied them on a trip to Elephanta Island.

They left Malad around 2 pm and reached the Gateway of India where they boarded the ill-fated ferry.

After the Navy craft rammed the ferry and it began to capsize, Pravin and his wife spoke to their relatives in Rajasthan on phone amid the rescue operations and informed them about the incident.

"Our relatives in Rajasthan told me, and I reached Gateway of India around 4.15 pm. Pravin and his wife were rescued, but my brother was not there," he said.

"I do not know how he is and what ordeal he must have gone through.....I want my brother back," said an emotional Jogaram.

"He is a very good human being, and most lovable among all us siblings," the elder brother added.

A relative of Deepak Wakchaure (50), a resident of Govandi area in the city who was among the 13 people who were killed, demanded that the government give a job to a family member of every person who died In the accident.

He also claimed that a gold chain and other jewellery worn by Sandeep were missing when the family collected his body.

Colaba Police has asked them to lodge a complaint, he said.

Of the 113 persons aboard both the vessels, 13 died after the collision and 98, including two injured, were rescued. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)