Thiruvananthapuram: Three teenage girls, a boy and a 34-year-old woman from Tamil Nadu, were feared drowned after they were carried away by strong waves from the Golden Sand beach, the narrow sand bank between the lake and the sea, in Poovar near Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.
The missing have been identified as Sahayooba, 30, Fatima, 12, Sabarunissa Nizam, 13,Marsooba, 4, and Suhail, 14. A police source said they could have been mother and children but could not confirm the same.
Heavy rains and choppy sea have made it impossible for the coastal police to carry out search and rescue operations.
The victims were on the narrow strip of the beach during the mid-course halt of a 12-kilometre boat trip along the mangroves and lake in Poovar.
A police source said that the five were part of a group of 20 tourists, members of an extended family, who had come from Mettupalayam near Tirunelveli.
The team had split and went boating in two boats. It is usual for the 20-odd boating clubs in the area to allow their customers to walk on the beach before continuing with the trip.
