What began as an annual company- sponsored international trip for a group of 32 Indian employees of Lava mobile firm ended in a tragedy after a speedboat carrying them capsized near the Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam, leaving 15 dead.
The tragic incident occured on Saturday when the speedboat carrying 36 people, including 4 crew members, flipped after reportedly being hit by a sudden wave off Rut Ngoai Islet.
While local authorities managed to rescue 21 people, 15 Indians, including 2 women were dead.
The Indian embassy in Vietnam released the list of the deceased provided by the Vietnamese authorities.
“It is with profound grief that we share the list of 15 Indian nationals who have lost their lives in the tragic boat accident nea Phuc Quoc Island today. The list has been recieved from the Vietnamese authorities. Our prayers are with the families of the deceased,” it said while sharing the list of all who died.
Of the 15 deceased, 10 are from Tamil Nadu, three from Andhra Pradesh, and two from Kerala.
They have been identified as Senthil Kumar Jayavel (Tamil Nadu), Muruga Prabhu Arumugam (Tamil Nadu), Sridhar Sundararajan (Tamil Nadu), Shaik Abdullah Abdul Majeed (Tamil Nadu), Balaji Natesan (Tamil Nadu), Vinaya Kumar Chithapuram Bhaskara (Tamil Nadu), Ravisankar Sugumaran (Tamil Nadu), Santosh Kumar Shantilaljain (Tamil Nadu), Babu Kuppuswamy (Tamil Nadu), and Alagurajan Sivasamy (Tamil Nadu).
Nallapeta Adiseshaiah Raviteja (Andhra Pradesh), Sreedhar Mudiam (Andhra Pradesh), Jaya Lakshmi Gelli (Andhra Pradesh), Avicot Cheriyan Thomas (Kerala), and Loveni Thomas (Kerala) are also among the 15 deceased Indians.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay and defence minister Rajnath Singh were among the leaders who offered condolences to the bereaved families.
PM Modi said that Indian authorities were providing all the possible help, while LoP Rahul urged the Government of India and the Ministry of External Affairs to work closely with the Vietnamese authorities to ensure that all necessary assistance is extended to the affected families.
CM Vijay said that he is “deeply saddened and distressed” to learn that tourists from Tamil Nadu and other states lost their lives in the tragedy.
He also directed the Tamil Nadu government officials to obtain the details of the affected Tamils and coordinate with the Tamil Nadu House in New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs, and senior officials of the Indian Embassy in Vietnam to ensure that all necessary assistance is provided to them and that rescue and relief operations are carried out effectively.
“I have instructed that necessary steps be taken through the Indian Embassy to bring the mortal remains of those who lost their lives in the accident back to Tamil Nadu at the earliest,” Vijay said.