At least 22 people, including seven children, were killed when a tourist boat capsized in Poorapuzha river near the Ottumpuram Thooval Theeram beach at Thanoor in Kerala’s  district on Sunday evening

The death toll is likely to go up as several passengers are missing. Many of the victims were women and children. Most of the victims were from families in the vicinity.

According to rescue workers, the boat carrying around 40 people overturned during a joyride around 7.30 pm on Sunday. Overloading is believed to have caused the accident.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Fire Force personnel are deployed for the search operations. Local residents including fishermen are also assisting the forces in the mission. A team from the Indian Navy reached the spot and joined the search operation with NDRF and Fire Force.

As many as 12 people were rescued and have been admitted to various government and private hospitals in the district. Some of them are in critical condition. Fisheries Minister V Abdurahiman and Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas reached the spot to oversee rescue operations

Many passengers were caught under the boat, and the darkness hampered the rescue operations.

Locals said that the boat was carrying out services without any safety measures. They said the boat was overcrowded and no life jacket was provided to the passengers while taking service on Sunday evening.

It is alleged that the boat owner converted a fishing boat for tourist services. Officials confirmed that the boat was operated without a fitness certificate issued for tourist boats.Police have registered a case and slapped charges including culpable homicide against the boat owner Nasar, a native of Thanur, who is absconding.

Among the killed, 11 belonged to the same family. Kunnummal Saithalavi of Thanur lost 11 of his family members in the mishap. Saithalavi’s family reached their ancestral home in Thanur to celebrate Eid-Ul-Fitr last week. The family headed to Thoovaltheeram as the children wanted to visit the spot. Saithalavi dropped them all to the spot and returned home. Before leaving home, he strictly instructed them against taking a boat ride. But, they flouted his instruction, death has taken them all.

Kunnummal Jabir’s wife Jalsiya, son Jareer, Kunnummal Siraj’s wife, and children Shamna, Hasna and Safna were killed in the accident. Siraj’s 10-month-old child also drowned.

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed shock and pain in the loss of lives at the boat tragedy at Thanur in Malappuram. PM Modi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF)

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has conveyed condolences to the families of the victims of the Thanur boat accident. The state government cancelled all its official programmes scheduled for Monday in view of the tragedy

The Kerala government has announced a financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh each to the dependents of the deceased. The decision of the government was announced by the state chief minister, who reached the accident site on Monday.

The state government will also bear the medical expenses of those injured in the accident. The chief minister announced a judicial inquiry to probe the incident by a team of technical experts.