4 die after inhaling toxic gas while trying to steal on stranded ship in Mumbai
Four men died after allegedly inhaling toxic gas while trying to steal from a foreign-flagged vessel stranded for months near a beach in Mumbai on Wednesday, police said.
According to preliminary investigation, eight people reached the stranded ship in a speedboat two to three days ago. One person stayed behind to operate the boat. Seven others boarded the vessel, which had been stranded near Manori beach in Gorai area for around four months.
The trouble began when four members of the group entered an enclosed section of the ship and tried to cut a gas pipeline using a gas cutter, police said. A sudden leak of toxic gas is suspected to have caused the four men to suffocate and die inside the vessel. A post-mortem examination is underway to determine the cause of the deaths.
The incident came to light after one of their associates approached the Gorai police and reported that four men were trapped inside the ship.
The police then alerted merchant Navy personnel and launched a recovery operation. On Wednesday, search teams entered the vessel with assistance from the Navy and recovered the four bodies. They were sent to a local hospital for post-mortem examinations.
Police said all the four men were below 30 years old. Their identities are yet to be formally established.
Investigators suspect the group had been targeting the stranded vessel for theft for about a month. Police said the ship had been robbed twice earlier.
In the first incident, goods worth around Rs 2.5 lakh were stolen, while the second theft was estimated at around Rs 5 lakh, according to preliminary information.
The vessel had run aground around four months ago following strong winds and heavy rainfall and has remained stranded off the Gorai-Manori coast since then.
A case has also been registered against the ship’s owner, who is currently abroad and absconding, police said.ILLEGAL OIL TRADE ANGLE
Police are also investigating allegations that the vessel was involved in illegal oil-related activities before it ran aground. The allegation has not yet been officially confirmed.
The Gorai police have registered an accidental death report (ADR) and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths, including the source of the suspected gas leak, the identities and roles of the people involved, and the circumstances in which the group entered the ship.
The exact cause of death will be established after the post-mortem examinations and further investigation, police said.- Ends(with inputs from Shiv Shankar Tiwari and PTI)
