As 45-year-old Ganesh stood on the deck of the Neel Kamal ferry, bound for Elephanta Island, he watched in disbelief as a speed boat-like craft made circles in the Arabian Sea, heading directly towards the vessel.
"A thought crossed my mind that the inevitable will happen – and it did," he recalled.
In a tragic incident late on Wednesday afternoon, a Navy speed boat collided with the ferry, claiming 13 lives and leaving 99 others in need of rescue. Ganesh, who had boarded the ferry at around 3.30 pm, was among the first to be rescued after the accident.
More than 100 passengers, including children, were on board the ferry at the time of the crash.
"While I was observing the Arabian Sea and the Mumbai skyline, the speed boat-like vessel was circling our ferry with full speed," he said.
Just moments later, the crash occurred. Here is the video of the tragic collision:
The collision sent sea water rushing into the ferry, prompting the captain to order passengers to wear life jackets as the vessel began to capsize. Ganesh, after donning a life jacket, jumped into the sea and swam for 15 minutes before being rescued by a nearby boat.
Rescue operations were launched swiftly, with Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Police teams arriving within 30 minutes of the collision.
Ganesh was among the first group of passengers brought to safety, including a Navy personnel who died after his leg was severed in the accident.
Another survivor, Vinayak Mattham, from Bengaluru, who was on board the ferry with two colleagues, described the incident.
"At first, I thought the Navy craft personnel were out for a joyride, given how their boat was circling our ferry," he said.
Mattham also pointed out a critical safety issue, stating, "The ferry did not have enough life jackets. When passengers boarded, they should have been made to wear them."
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