Eight students, including a girl, drowned when a country boat ferrying them across the Chaliyar river at Moorkanad, Areekode in Malappuram district, capsized on Wednesday. The accident occurred at 4.45 p.m. when the students were returning home from school. The victims were Plus One and Plus Two students in the 16-18 age group.
The police identified the deceased as Suhail, Shihab, Siraj, Shahidali, Shameem, Thaufiq, Mohammed Mufti and the girl Taiba.
Eyewitness accounts said the boat was carrying around 40 students of Sub-us-Salam Higher Secondary School, Moorkanad. Sand-mining workers and the local people rescued the rest of the students who fell into the river. Many students swam to safety. The bodies are kept at the Areekode taluk hospital.
2 in serious condition
The condition of two children is reported to be serious. One of them was shifted to the Kozhikode Medical College. Reports from the scene of the accident suggested that four children were missing but confusion persists on this count. The Fire and Rescue Services personnel and police officers are conducting search operations. Poor visibility at night is hampering the rescue efforts though lights hoisted on inflatable dinghies are being used at the accident site.
A 15-member naval team has started from Kochi to help in the rescue efforts.
The country craft is the usual mode of transport for villagers to commute between Moorkanad and Areekode. The tragedy has plunged the village into shock and sorrow.
Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has directed the Malappuram District Collector to submit an emergency report on the cause of the accident. Ponnani MP E.T. Mohammed Basheer visited the accident site.
Keywords: students, drown, Malappuram, Kerala, river, capsize, Chaliyar River, Moorkanad
Comments:
What can one say. Aren't many lives being lost in India recently due to such silly accidents? Two recent boat tragedies, PM's secutiry measures causing a death, fire cracker accident claiming 50 in TN, Firemen dying in an elevator in Mumbai and the list goes on... Just words are not going to serve any purpose any more... We need not just action, but a REVOLUTION! By the people, something radical...else things will never ever change in the nation. Amen!
The state is not caring for its citizens…. What is the responsibility of the state and the government???!!!
Heartfelt condolences to familes of who lost their life. More than state and authorities, we the public should set the safety as priority in our daily life to avoid such ill fated incidents.
Our Govts are least bothered about human lives. If they were, they would have proactively done all the meticulous safety measures wherever possible. We got to have people in the Govt who're proactive and who're concerned about citizens.
Really,there is a different value attached to common people's lives and to those of privileged ones in this country.
Just for an example, flyovers being built costing several crores by "reputed" companies falling down while construction in various cities like Delhi,Hyderabad,Bangalore shows clearly how even the so-called organised companies run with audacity and disrespect for lives of the poor workers.It is basically because they have political support. No one will monitor the quality of construction and safety of the poor workers in a fair manner. If something goes wrong during construction and a few poor workers,etc die,it is neatly swept under the carpet after the initial hullabaloo.If this is the case with "well-organised" companies,imagine the situation in case of ordinary contractors who hire poor labourers-who is there to bother about their safety?
If the government was really concerned about the lives of people, will it allow such unsafe pratices even after repeated incidents related to safety? After the Thekkady incident, I expected the Kerala government to issue a strict warning to boats being operated without the minimum safety measures like lifejackets. Let us now atleast start to request the boat operators ourselves and make them implement the basic safety measures.
What can the government do. Overloading the boat is the fault of individual who are in charge of it. Usually people insist of being on the boat even when its full to the brim.
Effective measures should be taken by the government. It is the time for the bureaucracy to wake up and provide safety and security to the citizens.