The boat was conducting trips past evening, flouting regulations.
The accident occurred at Thooval Theeram in Ottumbram. According to sources, since it was a Sunday during summer holidays many of the passengers were children. At least three women and four children were reportedly among the deceased. The boat capsized at around 7 pm and lack of light initially hampered the rescue operations.
Minister V Abdurahman who was coordinating the rescue operations said that as of 10.30pm, the information was that there were over 30 persons on the boat and as much as 15 persons have been confirmed to be dead. He said that the region was a muddy area and rescue workers were still fishing people out of the water.
The minister said that such boats are not supposed to conduct services after 5pm and such details would be examined at a later time as the priority was for rescue operations. Police, Fire Force and proper lighting has been made available to conduct rescue operations. However, the number of casualties are very high, he said. He also confirmed that the boat had indeed turned turtle and drowned.
PM Narendra has expressed condolences to the bereaved families and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased.
Tanur Muncipality chairman PP Shamudheen said that the boat capsized at the spot where Poorapuzha river joins the Arabian sea. He said that the incident occurred after 7 pm.
“The exact number of passengers on the boat is not known. However, everyone in the area says that it was heavily overloaded. It seems to have overturned due to overloading only and the boat must have lost its balance at some point. When we confirmed nine deaths, we had fished out five more bodies, so the number is likely to increase,” said Shamsudheen.
The boat which capsized had two decks. Fire and Rescue units and local fishermen had been conducting rescue operations since the incident and it was continuing late into the night. At least six persons were rescued initially and rushed to various hospitals in the area. According to sources, a girl who was rescued was admitted to Tirurangadi hospital and her condition was stable. Reports on the conditions of the other survivors were yet to be confirmed.
It is suspected that over 40 passengers were on the boat. A smaller boat had initially reached the spot where the incident occurred and rescued a few passengers who were taken to hospital in Tanur, Tirurangadi and other hospitals.
According to sources, hospitals in the area had been kept on alert with beds having ventilator facilities ready to treat victims who can be revived. Rescue workers were able to tug the boat into the land using rope by night and bodies were recovered from the boat as well.
