Driver Feared Dead As Car Falls Into Sea At Chennai Harbour, Search Operation Underway

The victim, Mohammed Shahi, a temporary driver, was driving a Coast Guard officer when the vehicle lost control and plunged into the sea.

Chennai: A 33-year-old man from the Kodungaiyur area here in Tamil Nadu is feared dead after a car he was driving fell into the water while reversing at Chennai Harbour on Tuesday night, police said.

The victim, Mohammed Shahi, who worked as a temporary driver, was driving Coast Guard Officer Jogendra Kanda in a Tavera vehicle from the port to Jawahar Dock-5 when the vehicle suddenly lost control and plunged into the 85-foot-deep water while reversing.

Police said that Kanda managed to escape by breaking the glass of the car and swimming to safety, but Shahi was trapped inside the vehicle when it sank to the bottom of the harbour. Following the incident, a massive rescue operation was launched, with over 30 Coast Guard personnel, 20 firefighters, scuba divers, and port police pressed into service, they said.

“We have recovered the car, but the missing driver is still missing, and we are trying to locate him,” said an official, adding that Officer Kanda has been admitted to the Army Hospital in St. Thomas Mount for treatment.

Meanwhile, when the driver's relatives reached the Chennai Port after hearing that Shahi had fallen into the sea, they suddenly staged a road blockade at the port entrance because they were denied entry into the port and the police did not give the proper information about the driver.

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