Tamil Nadu Boat mishap: Toll rises to 10

The toll rose to 10 in the boat tragedy that struck a group of tourists in the sea off Tuticorin district with the body of a minor girl being retrieved by the Coast Guard today.

CHENNAI: The toll rose to 10 in the boat tragedy that struck a group of tourists in the sea off Tuticorin district with the body of a minor girl being retrieved by the Coast Guard today.

The Coast Guard, which undertook the search and rescue operations, said 42 tourists were "reported" to have been travelling in the fishing boat when it capsized off Manapadu Beach last evening and 32 of them have been rescued.

Amid reports that the boat was overloaded, police said they have booked its driver and owner for "causing death due to negligence".

Hours after the incident, District Collector M Ravi Kumar had yesterday said eight tourists drowned and 17 others were rescued.

He, however, had clarified that there was no information then about the number of tourists who were onboard the boat at the time of the incident.

The Coast Guard in a release today said its Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre here received information from the Coastal Security Group about the incident that occurred around 6 PM.

After which, Coast Guard Ship Aadesh and a Dornier aircraft were deployed for search and rescue of the missing tourists.

"A total of 42 tourists were reported to be on board, out of whom 32 survivors have been rescued. A total of 10 bodies have been recovered including that of a girl of around 12 years by ICGS Aadesh this morning, and handed over to local authorities," it said.

Meanwhile, police said a case has been registered against the boat driver Selvam and owner Kevin under relevant IPC sections for "causing death due to negligence" and were on look-out for them.

The two were absconding along with their family members, police said.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a solatium of Rs two lakh each to the families of the deceased.

DMK Working President and Leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly M K Stalin condoled the death of the tourists, expressing 'shock' over the incident.

"Any amount of consoling cannot calm the grieving relatives of the deceased. Recurrence of such accidents should be prevented," he said in a statement.

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