Iran ship tragedy: Manjeshwar survivors give surreal accounts of lucky escapes

Manjeshwar, October 28: The two localites, who among the 60 rescued voyagers on board an Iranian flagged ship, which sank in the Persian Gulf last week, have returned to their respective homes on Wednesday with sound health.

“We saw death very closely, as we lost our 13 fellows on board, to whom we would never meet. The grace of almighty God and prayers of our parents saved us”, said Mohammed Haneef (35) and Avinash (25) after uniting with their family members.

While Avinash, son of Kumar and Shyamala couple from Hosangadi Koppal, reached home in the morning, Haneef son of AbdullaH Kunhi and Rukkiya couple from Uppala Peringady united with his family members in the evening.

The duo had started their career on board the sunken ship 'Syntek' as assistant cooks just four months ago.

“During the tragedy I was offering Namaz. I witnessed the death in the sea before my own eyes. The life jacket provided by an Australian on time helped me survive”, said Haneef, according to whom, the strong winds, which had begun to blow at 45km/hr speed, were the reason for tragedy.

Avinash said that he was preparing food in basement of the ship when it began to sink.

“Within eight minutes the ship was completely submerged”, said Avinash, recalling the most fearful moment of his life. He said that he managed to escape through a life raft and was picked up by a fishing boat which came that way two hours later.

Both of them had reached the shore around 8:30 pm, i.e. nearly three hours after the tragedy. Authorities rushed them to the Assaloyeh port hospital for treatment, before sending them to Mumabi via Tehran international airport.

However, both the survivors are worried about the fact that they have lost many of their important documents including education qualification certificates in the sunken ship.

13 people including seven Indian divers, who had stuck underwater, when the ill-fated ship, carrying 73 people sank about 20 km off the oil rich nation's southern Assaloyeh port, on October 20, have lost their lives. The tragedy occurred when the ship was advancing towards the port from an offshore oil rig near Tehran.

Avinash with mother Shyamala

Mohammed Haneef with father