21 tourists dead as boat capsizes in Andamans; blast suspected
Port Blair: A privately owned tourist boat, Aqua Marine, carrying 43 tourists, capsized near Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal on Sunday killing 21 people. The mishap on a Republic Day, reportedly after a blast, occurred between Ross Island and North Bay near Port Blair, about 25 km from shore, at 4 pm. Thirteen people have been rescued while the rest are missing. The survivors are admitted to the GB Pant hospital.
Most of the people onboard were from Tamil Nadu and Mumbai. The Lt. Governor, Lt Gen (Retd) AK Singh, has ordered a magisterial inquiry. The vessel, belonging to a private company, was engaged in harbour tourism. The Coast Guard has been put on rescue operations. Details are awaited. The Government has announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh to each of the deceased's kin.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed shock over the boat tragedy and has condoled the loss of lives. He has asked all Central agencies to immediately assist in the rescue and relief operations.
The bodies of the following victims have been identified: Anjali - Kanchipuram, Anuradha - Kanchipuram, S Manikandan - Kanchipuram, P Menal - Kanchipuram, Anusiya - Kanchipuram, D Selva Raj - Kanchipuram, S Darshini - Kanchipuram, WG Ganapathy - Kanchipuram, S Perumal - Kanchipuram, Susheela - Kanchipuram, J Usha - Kanchipuram, Shanta Bai - Kanchipuram, Shanti Bai - Kanchipuram, K Vanaja - Chennai, R Karunakaran - Chennai, Durai jay Kumar - Chennai, C Bosekar - Mumbai, Alka Bosekar - Mumbai, Lalji Singh - Mumbai, Juhi Ghosh - Kolkata, Raman Babbar - Saharanpur
