Thekkady official, forest guard arrested over boat tragedy

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 7th, 2009 THEKKADY - The tourist boat that capsized in a lake here Sep 30, leading to the loss of 45 lives, had defects, a shipping expert confirmed Wednesday. He said more tests would now be conducted on the vessel.

October 5th, 2009 THEKKADY - The driver of the boat that capsized last week in the lake here killing 45 people has been arrested along with his assistant, police said Monday. Victor Samuel,38, and his 24-year-old assistant Anish were arrested late Sunday, four days after the boat capsized in the Thekkady lake in the Periyar wildlife sanctuary Wednesday evening.

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 4th, 2009 THEKKADY - The tourist boat that capsized in a lake here Wednesday, leading to the loss of 45 lives, was overcrowded and also had inherent problems, according to a Kerala police officer probing the tragedy. The double-decker boat, owned by the state-run Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC), had the capacity of carrying 75 passengers but it was carrying 87 tourists that evening, P.A.

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 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 1st, 2009 THEKKADY - Rescuers on Thursday fished out five more bodies from the Thekkady Lake, taking the death toll from Wednesday's boat tragedy to 37. The tragedy occurred when the state-run double decker boat Jalakanyaka carrying 74 tourists tilted after several tourists moved to one side on sighting elephants in the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary on the banks of the lake on Wednesday evening.

October 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress president Sonia Gandhi Thursday expressed grief and concern over the "terrible boat tragedy" in Kerala's Thekkady wildlife sanctuary that claimed 37 lives. "I am deeply distressed to learn of the terrible boat tragedy at the Thekkady wildlife sanctuary that claimed so many innocent lives," Gandhi said in a message issued here.

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.

October 1st, 2009 THEKKADY - The boat tragedy in Kerala's Thekkady tourist spot that killed 42 people Wednesday evening could have been avoided if the state government had taken measures like appointing a water transport safety commissioner, an official who inquired into a similar incident in 2002 said Thursday. Justice K. Narayana Kurup, who headed the inquiry commission into the Kumarakom boat tragedy in Kottayam district that killed 27 people, said a competent authority should have been appointed to look into all the safety aspects.

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 NEW DELHI - The Kerala government has chartered a Kingfisher Airline flight to take the bodies of the Thekkady boat tragedy to Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata, a state government official said Thursday. "The flight is expected to take off from Kochi (in Kerala) at 10 p.m.

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.

September 30th, 2009 THEKKADY - The death toll in the boat tragedy in Kerala's Thekkady District rose to 22 on Wednesday evening. Earlier, the toll was pegged at six persons.