Karwar : A boat carrying devotees to Narasimha jatra in Kurmagad Island off Karwar capsized on Monday afternoon and Eight persons drowned and seven went missing.

A total 33 persons were on the boat when it capsized. While seven are missing, 18 have been rescued by fishermen and the Indian Coast Guard. Police and coast guard are searching for the rest of the victims. The bodies of the deceased have been recovered.

Kurmagad, an island in the Arabian Sea, 3 km off Karwar coast, has a temple which opens for only two days in a year. More than 25,000 people visit the island every year to offer the puja. The devotees mainly comprise of the people from coastal and north Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.

According to Darshan Shirodkar, who was on the capsized boat, they were returning to Karwar around 3pm from the island after offering the puja at Narasimha temple in Kurmagad island. When the mechanised boat reached near the confluence of Arabian Sea and Kali River, there was high tide and the helmsman lowered the speed of the boat and halted it. After few minute, when he tried to move the boat, the boat leaned to one side. There was commotion and those who were on boat in panic tried to come to the opposite side and the boat capsized. “The boat took three turns in the water and I went into the water, but could manage to hold the tip of the boat. Eight others who knew the swimming too clung to the boat. Rest were washed away in the water. We sat in mid sea on the capsized boat for20 minutes,’’ he said.

There were about five to six other boats ferrying the devotees which tried to save the people. But the people in those boats were so panicky that the drivers of the boats dared not to come near us. The fishermen in the vicinity rushed to us and saved us. I am unable to recover from the shock,’’ he added.

Roopali Naik, Karwar MLA, who too was returning from the temple, could take only six people on her boat.

The fishermen and the Coastal Security Police rushed to the spot and saved the people who were clinging on to the capsized boat. Senior officials of the district administration including the DC, SP and ZP CEO rushed to the hospital. The bodies received by the police have been shifted to the Medical College and the injured are being given the treatment.

The search for the rest of the victims is on. The deceased have been identified as Nilesh Rohidas Pednekar, Jayashri Kotharkar, Ganapati Kotharkar, Annakka Ingalkar, all from Karwar, Geeta Janamejay Talekar from Ponda, Goa, Arun (4), Bharathi and Manjavva Somu from Shiggavi, Haveri District.

The missing have been identified as Prasappa Beluvalakoppa, resident of Kusthagi, Koppal district, his three children Sanjeevi, Soujanya, Sandeep and Geeta Hulaswar, Keerti and Kiran. Top Comment

Revenue Minister R. V Deshpande visited Karwar soon after the incident and said that of the 33 persons on the boat, eight had drowned and seven are missing. Meanwhile, Indian Coast Guard in its press release said that two interceptors and a Coast Guard helicopter have been pressed in the service for the search and rescue operation. Indian navy has launched the Dornier from Goa for the search operation; the Indian navy spokesperson has tweeted.

The Boat owner Nagaraj had registered boat with tourism department and the boat was ferrying the tourists to the island. But on Monday, the boat was ferrying the devotees.