Kerala charters Kingfisher flight to take Thekkady victims home

October 14th, 2009 THEKKADY - Two more people - a shipping official and an employee of the company that manufactured the ill-fated boat that capsized in the Thekkady lake last month killing 45 tourists - were arrested Wednesday for lapses in conducting some mandatory tests on the vessel. The two arrested men were -- K.K.

October 12th, 2009 THEKKADY - It's been nearly two weeks since the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary shut down following the boat capsize in Thekkady lake that killed 45 people. Tour operators, hotel owners and locals are now urging that the popular tourist spot be reopened soon as their livelihoods are at stake.

October 5th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - All boats at tourist destinations in Kerala would undergo a safety check to ensure the vessels are in good condition, state Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said here Monday. "This would be done in the next 10 days and once we receive the report we would consider floating a law in this regard," Balakrishnan said after meeting with Minister of Irrigation N.K.

October 3rd, 2009 THEKKADY - Three more bodies, including those of a four-year-old and her mother, were found floating near the site where a boat capsized Wednesday in Thekkady lake of Kerala's Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, taking the toll in the tragedy to 44, officials said Saturday. The bodies were found when a diving team comprising naval, police and forest personnel resumed the search in the morning, a police official said.

October 3rd, 2009 THEKKADY - The bodies of a four-year-old girl and her mother were found floating on Kerala's Thekkady lake Saturday morning as navy divers resumed search operations, taking the toll from Wednesday's boat capsize to 43, officials said. The bodies were found quite near the accident site when the diving team comprising naval, police and forest personnel reached it to resume the search, said Idukki Superintendent of Police P.K.

October 2nd, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Friday criticised the central government for not providing a military aircraft to transport the bodies of the victims of the Thekkady boat tragedy.

October 2nd, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/NEW DELHI - The defence ministry asked the Kerala government for Rs.45 lakh for a military aircraft to transport the bodies of the people who had died in the Thekkady boat capsize, a senior Kerala minister said Friday. The state government, however, rejected the demand and instead chartered two planes from a private airline to take the bodies to different places, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, and spent less than Rs.25 lakh.

October 1st, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Admitting that there had been lapses, the Kerala government Thursday said the Thekkady boat tragedy was "an accident" and would not hit tourist inflow to the state that is promoted abroad as 'God's own country'. "It is a waterway accident like a road accident.

October 1st, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Foreign tourists in the boat that capsized in the Thekkady lake at the Periyar wildlife sanctuary are safe, Kerala MP P.T. Thomas said Thursday.

October 1st, 2009 THEKKADY - Kerala Forests Minister Binoy Viswam Thursday said boating activity on the Thekkady lake in central Kerala's Periyar Wild Life Sanctuary will be suspended till all boats undergo fitness tests. Vishwam said the forest and tourism departments have four and five boats, respectively.

October 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - At least 12 people from Delhi are among the victims of the boat capsize tragedy in Thekkady, Kerala, state officials said here Thursday. They were identified as Pradeep Kumar Jain of New Multan Nagar near Pira Garhi, his wife Sandhya Jain, their daughter Shruti Jain, his mother-in-law Vimala Jain, Partha Sharma of Multan Nagar, Sangeeta Sharma - a senior manager with the State Bank of India, Harendra Singh, Arun Koura, Sruti Koura, Anika Koura, Renu Koura and Salika.

September 30th, 2009 THEKKADY - The toll in the Thekkady boat tragedy touched 37 as five more bodies were recovered Thursday morning, officials said. The tragedy occurred Wednesday at 5.15 p.m.

September 15th, 2009 MUMBAI - A Kingfisher Airlines flight to Bangalore returned minutes after take-off from here Tuesday when a technical snag was detected, an airport official said. Flight IT 103, with 80 passengers on board, took off from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Interantional Airport shortly after 9 a.m.

April 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The new domestic departure terminal of the Indira Gandhi International airport became operational here Sunday with an Indigo flight taking off for Guwahati early in the morning. A spokesperson of airport developer Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), a GMR-led consortium, told IANS: 'The first Indigo flight for Guwahati took off at 5.30 a.m.

January 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines will launch its daily non-stop Mumbai-London flight from Monday. 'We will launch our first flight from Mumbai to London tomorrow (Monday),' a Kingfisher spokesperson said Sunday.