“If the mobile flashlight had not worked in the darkness of the sea, if the call had not gone through to Beypore... maybe I would not be alive today.”

Those were the words of Shifana Salim, a native of Ramapuram in Kerala’s Malappuram district, as she recalled a terrifying experience in the waters off Lakshadweep where she and a group of tourists narrowly escaped death.

Speaking in the backdrop of the recent drowning death of Indian Air Force Wing Commander R. Sreeraj at Bangaram Island, Shifana recounted how she and others were stranded in the sea during a tourism activity earlier this year.

Shifana, an MSc Psychology student at a centre in Kozhikode’s Vellimadukunnu, had travelled to Lakshadweep on April 8 along with 15 other students and teachers as part of a study tour. The group was staying on Agatti Island.

On the night of April 11, around 7 pm, Shifana and a few others joined a fish-hunting trip included in their tour package. A small boat arrived to take them into the sea.

According to Shifana, the boat was designed to carry only seven people, but it was carrying 10 tourists in addition to two boat operators.

“I asked them how so many people could travel in such a small boat,” she said. “The two boys operating the boat told us it was not a problem.”

After travelling around two to three kilometres into deeper waters, another boat accompanying them reportedly began taking in water and started sinking. The passengers from that boat then climbed into Shifana’s boat, causing it to become dangerously overloaded.

As panic spread, the two boat operators allegedly jumped into the sea and abandoned the tourists.

Shifana said the group was left terrified in the darkness, afraid that even slight movement could cause water to enter the overcrowded boat.

Fortunately, mobile network coverage was still available. Shifana searched online for emergency contact numbers and managed to find the number of the Beypore Police Station in Kerala.

“We called and informed them about what had happened,” she said.

Police at Beypore alerted authorities in Agatti, after which a rescue team led by the Agatti SHO and other rescuers headed into the sea to search for the stranded tourists.

Finding the group in the darkness proved difficult. Shifana and others then switched on the flashlight feature on their mobile phones, helping rescuers locate them and bring them safely back to shore.

Following the incident, Agatti Police registered a case against around 35 people, including boat owners, travel agency personnel and tour guides.