Bodies of four sailors found

TNN / Oct 12, 2006, 02:47 IST

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The bodies of Brazin Dias of Borivli, Rajeev Nair of Vashi, Veerappa Paramannavar of Gadag, Karnataka, and Ramesh Pillai of Ernakalum, Kerala, were recovered.

MUMBAI: After five days of praying and worrying about the fate of their loved ones, the families of four of the sailors who were missing after Friday's shipwreck off the coast of Japan received the sad news on Wednesday that their bodies had been found.
The bodies of Brazin Dias of Borivli, Rajeev Nair of Vashi, Veerappa Paramannavar of Gadag, Karnataka, and Ramesh Pillai of Ernakalum, Kerala, were recovered.
The bulk carrier Giant Step had run a ground and broken into two during a storm in the seas off Kashima, where the ship had been waiting for 11 days to get a berth in the busy port.
Of the 26 crew members on board, 16 were rescued; four are missing, while six bodies have been recovered.

Even as Beverly Dias was speaking to TOI on Wednesday afternoon, her family members broke the news to her that the body of her 34-year-old husband, who was a chief officer on board the ship, had been found.
Beverley had earlier said that she had been dissatisfied by the slow progress of the rescue operations by Japanese search teams.
"They could cut open the ship's storeroom only today and found no one inside. It's been five days since the disaster happened. Not enough work was put in to find them," she said.

The Nairs of Vashi received a message that Rajeev's body had been found near the Kashima coast early on Wednesday morning.
Officials from Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd (MOL), the owners of Giant Step and one of the world's largest shipping companies, said that an aerial search was also on now for the four missing crew members.
Earlier, on Saturday night, Japanese search parties had located the body of 46-year-old William Thomas, whose family resides in Panvel, Navi Mumbai. His body is expected to reach India within three days.
On Monday, Smita Nair, the wife of Rajeev Nair, had told TOI that if Giant Step had been given a berth at the port in time, the disaster could have been averted.

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