Kothamangalam, Kerala: The children lay dead and their parents kept wailing. The death of 16 children in a boat capsize in Elavoor in Ernakulam district has shocked Kerala and left people wondering whether there was a lapse.
Twins Aswathi and Amritha, 11, lay hand in hand in a hospital morgue on Wednesday after they drowned during a school picnic in Thattekadu bird sanctuary.
As many 103 students of the St Stephen's School in Angamaly district were returning from the picnic. At Thattakedu, 70 km from Kochi, one of the boats capsized, drowning 15 students—aged between 10 and 12—and three teachers.
Ashokan, who works in a private gas agency near Angamaly, heard about the tragedy and rushed to the Dharamapuri hospital at Kothamangalam. In the cab, he prayed hard that his twin daughters be two of the miraculous survivors.
Filing past the dead bodies, the distraught father fainted when he saw his two daughters lying hand in hand with their eyes closed, said an IANS report.
Priests recited prayers at the hospital as shocked parents and relatives waited for bodies to be released. A man touched his dead son's face again and again.
‘Boat had a leak’
Sini George, a teacher of the school, alleged when she and 53 students boarded the boat it had water inside. She asked the students to scoop out the water but the boat started moving and leaking.
She asked the students to move to the tail end but the boat suddenly tilted and capsized. George said the last thing she remember she falling into the water.
Shanta, the school’s headmistress, told PTI the incident "was a lesson for all of us".
(Inputs from IANS and PTI)
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