22 people have lost their lives after a houseboat, which was ferrying tourists capsized in Kerala’s Malappuram district on Sunday. Eight people are in the hospital as the search operations have resumed.While the officials are not able to find out the exact number of people in the boat, they are assuming that around 35 people were present on the boat at the time of the incident.
The boat had two decks, the upper one where people could stand and the Lower one with seats. The incident happened around 7.30 pm.Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for them. In a tweet, the PMO said, “Pained by the loss of lives due to the boat mishap in Malappuram, Kerala. Condolences to the bereaved families. An ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF would be provided to the next of kin of each deceased: PM Modi."Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is expected to visit the accident site.