JOIN USHeartrending scenes at hospitals
Ravi Kant and Maduri, a young couple of Hyderabad, were still in a state of shock as their only child Manasi had died. Despite this, Maduri put up a brave face and pleaded that they be spared the formalities concerning release of the body. Two of the dead have been identified as residents of Bangalore. They were Suryaprakash, 57, son of Gurav, Flat no 51-58, II Cross road, Gavipuram, Bangalore - 560019 and Vijayalakshmi, 47, wife of Chandrasekhara, Saleesh, Flat number S1-58-2 Gavipuram, End-Bangalore - 560019.
Several groups of relatives and friends from Delhi and Tamil Nadu who ventured together to vacation in God’s Own Country met with a watery grave. Six of the 11 people from Delhi who died belonged to one family of Greater Kailash. So were several of the 13 casualties from Tamil Nadu.
As the death toll climbed to 41, there was still some confusion regarding the number of passengers of the ill-fated boat as some hotels reported that a few tourists had not yet returned from their boat trip. Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said four people still remained untraced. However, it was also not clear as to how many children below five years were in the boat as they did not need a ticket.
Some of the bodies were embalmed at the Ernakulam General Hospital and were scheduled to be flown to their respective destinations from the Kochi airport.
Among the other bodies identified were also those of tourists from Punjab (4), Andhra Pradesh (6), Kolkata (3), Kerala (3) and one person from Mumbai. The State government has ordered a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and also announced a judicial inquiry by a high court judge into the incident.