Chennai boat tragedy: Navy joins search operations

Naval ships and divers have joined the search operations to locate the bodies of victims in the boat tragedy.

Chennai: Naval ships and divers have joined
the search operations to locate the bodies of victims in the
boat tragedy at a lake near here which claimed 22 lives,
officials said on Monday.

Twenty-two persons drowned yesterday when the private boat
in which they went on a pleasure trip as part of Christmas
celebration capsized in Pulicat Lake, about 60 km from here.

Three boys, who were part of the 25-member group that
boarded the craft, survived the mishap which occurred when the
boat entered an area close to the sea mouth, where boating is
banned. The boatman, a fisherman, also escaped.

Police said five more bodies were recovered today, taking
the total to 18 and search operations by fire and rescue
personnel and local fishermen in coordination with Navy were
underway to locate the remaining.

Navy said despite adverse weather conditions in the area,
the search operations were in progress in coordination with
the civil administration.

"Indian Naval Ships "Cheriyam" and FACT-84 with divers
embarked have been deployed to locate survivors and the search
and rescue operations are on under the supervision of
Commodore Amar K Mahadevan, Naval Officer-in-Charge (Tamil
Nadu and Puducherry..." an official release said.

PTI

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