TANUR: Asifa Khalid is yet to recover from the shock of learning that the 11, with whom she had gone to the Thooval Theeram beach on Sunday, are no more. Asifa and her two kids, Muhammad Mijuvad, 9, and Muhammad Misbah, 7, decided to back out of the boat trip at the last minute.
This saved their lives. The others were among the 22 who met their untimely demise when the boat sank in the Poorapuzhya River here on Sunday.
“We are neighbours. As planned, we went to the beach at around 5 pm. They got on the boat at around 7 pm. Since I’m afraid of boat trips, I refused. I did not allow my children either,” Asifa said.
After a while, Asifa learned that the boat had capsized. “I saw people from the beach rushing to the accident spot. I informed the relatives of Seenath and Raseena,” Asifa said.
The boat was crowned, Asifa said. “They were giving free passes to the children. The ticket fee for the boat ride was Rs 100. The boat operators were acting like any number of people will be allowed onto the boat. Many of them were not wearing life jackets,” she added.