A double-decker boat carrying more than 40 passengers capsized off a beach in India's Kerala state on Sunday night, killing at least 22 people.
The incident took place at around 7pm near Thooval Theeram beach in the Tanur area of Malappuram.
The boat was carrying more than 40 people, more than double its capacity, police said.
The dead included schoolchildren on holiday. Media reports said passengers were not wearing life jackets.
The owner could not be found by police, who filed a manslaughter case against him.
“The boat capsized due to the [weight] of people. It was overburdened, although we don't know the exact number of the people on the boat yet. That will be investigated,” Vimal C, a police officer at Malappuram police station, told The National.
“For now, the rescue is under way. We have deployed navy, National Disaster Response Force and coastguard teams for the rescue and search of those missing.”
Benny VV, a senior police officer, told The National that at least 10 people were being treated at government-run hospitals, while five survived after they swam to safety as the boat capsized.
“We don't have much hope to find more bodies but the search operation is on until we are sure,” Mr Benny said.
Of the 22, 11 belonged to the same family. They were four men, three women and four children, including a 10-month-old baby.
The state government has announced a judicial probe into the incident and announced a compensation of one million rupees ($12,200) to the families of the deceased.
State Health Minister Veena George said post mortem examinations were under way.
Kerala's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who will visit the area on Monday, tweeted his condolences to the victims' families and urged the district's authorities to oversee the rescue.
The boat takes tourists on a four-hour journey along the estuary. It is allowed to operate until 5pm, but boats were operating beyond stipulated hours to accommodate higher demand at the weekend, local media reported.
When the vessel capsized, fishermen and other peoples on the riverbank leapt into the water to rescue the passengers.
Prakash Vellayil, a fisherman, told local newspaper Mathrubhumi that the ferry was a modified fishing boat that was full beyond its capacity.
Witness Lubina, who escaped the accident after refusing to board the “overcrowded” boat, said that only children sitting on the upper deck were wearing life jackets.
Monday has been declared a day of official mourning, PTI reported, quoting the government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “pained by the loss of lives” and pledged compensation for the victims' families in a tweet.
Boating accidents are common in India, where many vessels are overcrowded and have inadequate safety equipment.
In September 2020, 12 people died when a sightseeing boat capsized on the swollen Godavari River in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
In May 2018, 30 people died when a boat overturned in the same region.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
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- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
Tickets
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
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Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.
