Christian council expresses grief at Kerala boat tragedy

A Christian council has expressed grief at the boat tragedy in Kerala's Idukki district that claimed the lives of 39 people on Wednesday.

According to reports, the mishap occurred when a Kerala state-run boat carrying 76 tourists capsized in a lake in the Periyar wildlife sanctuary in central Kerala.

The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) said it is "mourning with the bereaved family members and friends of the dead ones in this tragedy."

"May our loving Lord continue to fill the peace for the victims dear and near ones."

Termed as one of India's worst tourism-related accidents, the incident has shocked the country, as 13 of them dead were children.

Kerala police said the boat overturned when passengers rushed to one side to see a herd of wild elephants. The Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) owned the boat.

Eleven people from Delhi, including three each from two neighbouring families, were among 39 people, officials said.

Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said a judicial inquiry would be conducted into the mishap.

Shockingly, in another boat tragedy, 60 people, 34 of them children died after a country made boat carrying 150 people capsized in the Baghmati River in Bihar on Monday night.

The boat was overloaded with people returning from a local Dusshera fair.