Post-mortem report on Thirteen people died when the boat collided Drowning emerged as the main cause of death on the Mumbai coast, with clinical findings including frothy fluid in the airways, severe lung congestion and cyanosis of the fingers and lips, indicative of oxygen deprivation. One victim also exhibited multiple traumatic injuries, including head injuries consistent with the impact of a collision.
Dr. Babaso Maruti Kalel, medical superintendent and forensic medicine expert of Indira Gandhi Rural Hospital in Uran, conducted the postmortem of 11 people. Among the dead are two children – a five-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl – and nine adults, including five men and four women in their 30s and 40s, and one woman in her 50s.
“All but one person drowned and died of suffocation,” Dr. Kalel said. When people drown, their lungs become submerged, which prevents oxygen from entering the bloodstream. This inevitably leads to suffocation, or suffocation, which is the immediate cause of death. Clinical signs observed in these cases were consistent with drowning: bluish discoloration of the fingers and lips (cyanosis), coagulation of blood vessels in the eyes, and ballooning of the lungs due to inhalation of water. Autopsy revealed fluid mixed with blood in the trachea, indicating internal bleeding caused by water entering the lungs.
‘A mixture of air, water and blood is a sign of drowning,’ Dr Kalel added. “This indicates that the lungs are unable to exchange oxygen, leading to acute organ failure and death.”
One of the injured, identified as Praveen Sharma, had additional injuries – a deep head injury on the left side, along with injuries to his shoulder, arm and abdomen. These injuries were consistent with collision impacts and submersion impacts were mixed.
At the government-run JJ Hospital, post-mortems of two other victims also pointed to drowning as the primary cause of death. A senior forensic expert at JJ Hospital said, “The pattern of suffocation is strongly aligned with water inhalation with no other evidence of external injury.”
These observations strengthen the conclusion that drowning was the predominant mechanism of death for the victims.
The Indian Navy’s speedboat lost control during the engine test and the passenger boat heading towards the UNESCO World Heritage Site Elephanta Cave collided with the Neel Kamal. Thirteen people died when the boat capsized. According to the Indian Navy, the speedboat lost control due to engine failure. Authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the collision.
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