Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday expressed his anguish over the loss of lives in the Malappuram boat capsize incident in Kerala, saying that he was "distraught" by the news.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday condoled the loss of lives in the Malappuram boat capsize incident and ordered the effective coordination of rescue operations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the loss of lives in the Malappuram boat capsize incident in Kerala and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased.
The deceased were from Choudhary family of Maneckpura-Dabhala village of Vijapur taluka in Mehsana. The dead bodies identified include that of a family comprising a father, mother, son and daughter.
According to police, the staff member who was punting the boat died, and another staff member is missing. The two other crew members on board are safe, reported Kyodo News.
Authorities rushed to the site of the incident at around 11:30 pm (local time) after a person on a separate panga boat called 911 to report about victims in the water.
The Italian authorities said that the three arrested had taken the illegal immigrants on a boat from the Turkish city of Izmir to the Italian city of Calabria despite bad weather conditions.