A double-decker boat carrying more than 30 passengers capsized off a beach in southern India, killing more than 20 people including about seven children.
The horror happened on Sunday night near the estuary of Poorappuzha River in Tanur, a coastal town in Kerala state’s Malappuram district, and most of the passengers were tourists.
The dead included children who had come for a ride on the boat during their school holidays, Sports Minister V. Abdurahiman told the Press Trust of India news agency.
He also said that four people in critical condition were admitted to a hospital.
Today has been declared a day of official mourning and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “pained by the loss of lives” and announced compensation to the victims' families in a tweet.
The state's chief minister, who will visit the area Monday, tweeted his condolences to the victims' families and urged the district's authorities to oversee the rescue.
Boating accidents are common in India, where many vessels are overcrowded and have inadequate safety equipment.
M Rajeev, a retired school headmaster who took part in the rescue operation, told the Indian Express: "We heard people screaming from the river. Initially, we thought it was the usual merrymaking of boat passengers. But, as the screaming soon gave way to wailing for help, we rushed to the river shore.
"Everyone was helpless as the passengers had got trapped in the boat, which had glass windows for its two chambers. They were all trapped. None of them could come out or swim to safety. Ambulances and fire tenders could not be brought to the shore due to the narrow road. The bodies were taken on foot through the narrow ways and courtyards of various houses along the coast."
The boat, called the ‘Atlantic’ was launched for use earlier in April and was allegedly designed for fishing but was recently converted into a double-decker passenger boat.
Local residents and survivors told the Indian Express there were not adequate life jackets for passengers or lifebuoys on board. The boat’s upper deck was open with handrails, but its lower deck was covered with glass window panes. They said passengers did not have proper seats and instead had a wooden sheet fixed to the hull.
In September 2020, 12 people drowned 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 capsized in the same region.
Police officer Abdul Nazar said the rescue teams were expecting to recover more bodies from inside the boat after pulling it ashore from the muddy waters.
He said India’s National Disaster Response Force and the Indian Coast Guard personnel were engaged in rescue work and trying to find those who were still missing.
Nazar said authorities were investigating the cause of the accident and it appeared the boat capsized due to overcrowding.
