Sri Lankan sailor falls off ship in India, body recovered

The body of a Sri Lankan crew member of a Singapore-bound container vessel was pulled out of the Hooghly River in Kolkata on Friday evening after he reportedly jumped into the water near Netaji Subhas Dock. Cops said the victim was employed on the vessel named Kota Dunia.

The cops fear that the victim might have died by suicide, even as they contacted the Sri Lankan Embassy to ascertain whether his family would like to lodge any complaint. 

According to preliminary information, the crew member was identified as Bandarawatte Vidanelage Prabashwara Tharindu Bandarawatte, a Sri Lankan national.

According to DC (Port) Harikrishna Pai, the West Port Police Station received information around 11.26 pm on Thursday that a crew member allegedly jumped into the river near the dock area. The vessel, en route from Singapore via Chittagong, was stationed mid-stream and was not yet berthed.

“As soon as other crew members spotted him jumping into the river, the captain informed the matter to the Port Traffic department and sought urgent assistance. Two tugboats from the Port Marine department began search operations in the surrounding waters, but the crew member could not be located during the initial search,” said DC Pai.

A Disaster Management Group team comprising five expert divers, among others, was deployed through OC Control, Lalbazar. Port divers, too, were engaged to search the nearby water. “Search operations continued for several hours and the body was finally recovered around 5.05 pm on Friday evening,” said a port division cop.

Police did not immediately release details on the exact location of recovery or the condition of the body at the time it was found, stating they will make comments only after the post-mortem was over and the exact reason for death was ascertained.

Source: The Times of India

--Agencies