Thekkady (Kerala), Oct 3 (Inditop.com) 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. Kuttapayi.
The two had come to Kerala from Chennai.
“Two teenagers from Andhra Pradesh are still missing. We have also been told that a couple from Mysore, who had left their place for Thekkady, has not yet returned. But we don’t know if they were here,” Kuttapayi told Inditop.
The parents of the 19-year-old boy and and 15-year-old girl from Andhra Pradesh are still in a hotel here.
The double-decker boat owned by the state-run Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) capsized Wednesday evening. Saturday was the third consecutive day that rescue teams continued their hunt for missing victims.
“Most probably the diving team will call off the search later today because so many days have passed since the accident. The bodies, if any, will now be found floating,” said Kuttapayi.
The dead include 13 from Tamil Nadu, 12 from Delhi, five each from West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, three each from Karnataka and Kerala and one from Mumbai.
The double-decker fibreglass boat that capsized had been pressed into service just last month. Chief Boat Inspector M. Mathews Friday gave a clean chit to the boat and said it might have capsized because the driver made a quick turn.
KTDC Saturday suspended boat driver Victor Samuel and two other staff members.
Samuel, who is convalescing in a hospital near here, had said that he was not experienced enough to drive this new boat and had also pointed out that this been a boat made out of wood, this tragedy would not have happened.
KTDC Managing Director K.G. Mohanlal has begun an inquiry into the accident apart from the probe by the Crime Branch of the police.
The state government had earlier announced a judicial probe into the accident.
