Kochi boat tragedy: Foreign tourists help save 3 people

Kochi: The swift  response of  the local people helped  minimise the casualties in  the boat mishap at Fort Kochi on Wednesday. The people near the Kamalakadavu jetty and fisherfolk  resting in fishing vessels swung into action soon after the disaster.

The first to jump into the water were  two foreign tourists, according to an eyewitness. The duo, a man and a woman, plunged into the water and saved three persons, he said. The details of the foreigners couldn’t be confirmed as they left the place soon after the incident. As the mishap took place near the jetty,  the casualties did not go up,  according to those  who took part in the rescue operations.

“If it  had happened in the middle of the shipping channel,  the rescue efforts would have been  difficult as the area  has a depth of over  11 metres and very strong currents,”  said Anas, a native of Fort Kochi. The local people started rescue efforts even before the arrival of the Coast Guard, Navy and Fire and Rescue services, he said.

Although  the Navy and Coast Guard officials carried out extensive rescue operations,  the search for drowned passengers could not be completed as it took a long time to lift the passenger vessel from the  waters.  A divers’ team from the Navy and Chetak helicopter was  also  pressed into  service.

Thousands of people crowding the area made the relief work difficult with some  people turning  aggressive against the police and mediapersons. A section of the crowd showered abuses on  the crew of TV channels accusing them of ‘feasting’ on a tragedy. The crowd also warned against shooting  the visuals on mobile phones with the threat that such mobiles would be thrown into the water.