Tourists rushed to one side of the vessel to watch a herd of wild elephants, causing the boat to lose its balance and topple
Tourists rushed to one side of the vessel to watch a herd of wild elephants, causing the boat to lose its balance and topple
A tourist boat carrying 76 people in the southern Indian state of Kerala capsized yesterday, killing at least 32 including two foreigners, a state minister said.
The boat overturned in the popular Thekkady Tiger reserve, 240 kilometres from Kerala state capital Thiruvananthapuram, when tourists rushed to one side of the vessel to catch a glimpse of a herd of wild elephants.
"Thirty-five bodies have now been recovered," said Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Kerala minister for tourism and home affairs.
Two of the dead are foreigners but their nationalities were not immediately known, he said.
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Most of the tourists were from the neighbouring Indian state of Karnataka, Thomas added, saying rescue operations were under way with the help of Indian navy personnel.
Boat accidents are frequent in South Asia with many overloaded.
Search Operation
The Indian Navy joined the search and rescue operations last night, by which time the other operations were facing difficulty due to thick darkness at the spot of the accident and lack of facilities for communication.
Rescue operations continued even late in the night, based at a mid-way camp of the Kerala Forest Department near Manakkavala.
Don't Stand Up
For any boat ride on the Periyar lake, there was a standing instruction that the passengers should not get up from their seats while on the ride.
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This instruction could not have been communicated to all the passengers as they spoke different languages.
That the lake at the spot was 60 to 100 feet deep also heightened the gravity of the situation.
Investigation
The Kerala government ordered a high-level inquiry into the accident. Local residents said that Thekkady had never had facilities to launch rescue operations in emergencies.
There were also doubts whether the boat, despite the fact that it was new, had the mandatory safety measures.
Accident Spot
The accident occurred at a spot in the jungle called Manakkavala, which was only some distance away from the confluence of rivers Mullaiyar and Periyar.
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Local residents said possibilities of undercurrent were strong due to the confluence and also because the spot was near the vent through which Tamil Nadu was drawing water from the Mullaperiyar reservoir.
Jalakanyaka
The fibre boat owned by Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) was on its final trip of the day when the accident occurred
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