KOCHI: Two boats of the Kochi Water Metro Ltd (KWML), which were fully loaded with passengers, collided near the Fort Kochi boat terminal on Sunday noon, but none were injured.
The passengers, including children, panicked briefly as the boats "rubbed " against each other and momentarily lost stability, swaying to the sides. The emergency alarm went off and the emergency exit door opened automatically.
The incident happened around 50 meters away from the Fort Kochi terminal at 2.30 pm. One of the boats was about to reach the Fort Kochi terminal from the High Court, while the other was just leaving Fort Kochi.
However, the KWML authorities termed the mishap as "minor" while, citing that the same occurred while one of the boats was making way for a Ro-Ro service (Fort Kochi-Vypeen) cutting across the section.
"Two boats were crossing each other near Fort Kochi. The vessels slowed down while making way for a RoRo (Roll In-Roll Out) and rubbed against each other. The alarm (in one of the boats) was raised and the emergency door was opened automatically as part of emergency procedures. No passenger got injured and the boats too are absolutely safe," a spokesperson said.
The KWML said it will conduct an internal inquiry, including whether there was any lapse from any of the crew of the two boats.
Meanwhile, some of the passengers protested and filed a complaint with the High Court station master.
"Three vloggers created ruckus and wanted to enter the unauthorised area of the boat control cabin. This was not allowed by the crew for safety reasons. However, they tried to push in and then complained of misbehaving," the spokesperson added