KOCHI: A relative of three persons who died in the Tanur boat tragedy has approached the Kerala High Court seeking to implead in the suo motu case registered in connection with the accident that claimed 22 lives. Meanwhile, Malappuram district collector V R Premkumar has filed a report with the HC stating that the Ponnani Port conservator was tasked with carrying out urgent inspections of boats and continued checks at regular intervals.
In his plea, Hamza U, of Malappuram, submitted, “On the fateful day, the husband of my sister Sidheekh and their two minor children Fathima Minha and Muhammed Faizaan were travelling in the boat and they were tragically killed. Hence, it is submitted that I am very much interested in the outcome of the writ petition.” He also sought to be heard in the proceedings.
In his report, the collector said the accident was caused by boarding passengers beyond the boat’s capacity. However, technical studies are in progress. The report said the port conservator was directed to instruct owners to ensure that they carried passengers on both the lower and upper decks of boats.