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At least 22 people, many of them children, died after a double-decker tourist boat capsized in the southern Indian state of Kerala on Sunday evening. Rescuers have found eight injured people in the morning, with four of them in critical condition.
Several passengers were trapped under the boat, which ended its five-mile journey at the mouth of the Purapuzha River near the town of Tanur on India’s southwest coast. The boat was carrying more than 40 tourists, according to survivors, when it crashed around 7 p.m.
“There are too many people,” said Abdul Nazar, a local police officer. They didn’t have enough life jackets, said other officials as well as survivors. Local media reported that the ship also did not have the required safety certificate, and was not allowed to operate during the day.
Among the victims were seven children, the youngest of whom was 10 months old, and 11 victims from one family, according to authorities, who have not been able to verify the number of people on board the boat at the time of the accident. Five passengers swam ashore and were treated at a nearby hospital, according to V. Abdurahiman, a local legislator, who oversaw the rescue operation.
Videos posted on social media shows hundreds of local residents helping with rescue efforts in the dark. The red-and-white boat initially got stuck in the mud but was later brought to shore using a long rope tied to an excavator.
Police said a family living on the beach alerted them to the accident after hearing someone screaming nearby. Officials from the National Disaster Response Force and the Navy continued to search for the missing on Monday.
Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, said he was “saddened by the deaths” and announced death payments to the families of the victims, according to his office.
The boat service had started only a few months ago, as part of the state government’s initiative to boost tourism in the region. Police said they are investigating the owner of the boat, which went missing, for possible murder.
Boat accidents are not uncommon in Kerala and are often caused by ships carrying large numbers of passengers due to lax regulations and implementation of safety rules. In September 2009, a double-decker passenger boat crashed, killing 45 people, including seven children in Kerala’s Idukki district. The cause of the disaster was an overloaded boat.
In recent years, state authorities have implemented several safety measures, including installing surveillance cameras to prevent such tragedies.
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