Pleasure trip ends in watery grave

The tragedy which took place last Saturday when a boat capsized in the sea off Beruwela, drowning five people and causing injuries to two women is an eye opener for everyone including hoteliers and tour operators who organise events without paying heed to safety precautions.

It was when a group of persons on an excursion were returning on a boat after seeing the Light House at Beruwela around 4.30 p.m. that disaster struck. The boat which was overloaded with 13 passengers turned turtle when restless passengers swapped sides without realising the danger of tilting the boat to a side.

When the boat jettisoned several passengers to the sea, five people not wearing life jackets drowned. Several people who fell into the sea were rescued by people in the area after a valiant attempt while two women who nearly drowned but were rescued and admitted to a nearby hospital are on their way to recovery.

It was further revealed that the group had visited the Kalutara Bo tree and thereafter proceeded to kande-viharaya at Aluthgama before going to Beruwela, police said.

Their annual trip was organised by employees of the Sanasa Bank Development Society at Talangama, together with their families and others.

The five dead people include a woman, while others were identified as Chandrasiri Nandakumara, a Deputy Manager of the Peoples Bank, and a resident of Talangama south, W. Jayawardena, a consultant at the Transport Ministry, D.G. Guneratne a former member of the Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha and the Chairman of the Sanasa Bank at Talangama, L. Sirisena, a former employee of Lake House and his wife Mulin Seelawathie.

Altogether 109 people had arrived at Beruwela on that fatal day and several of them had taken boat rides to see the Beruwela Light House.

According to the Police Media Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana the Beruwela Police had investigated the tragedy where five persons drowned in the sea. Inquiries revealed that the boat used for transporting passengers was of a small type, carrying 13 persons including the boatman and his attendant.

The most startling aspect was that there were no life jackets in the boat and the male passengers were drunk on that day.

According to police the boat was overloaded and it wasn't a suitable boat for ferrying such a large number of passengers even though the Light House was in close proximity to the hotel where the group checked in that day.

It was also revealed that the boat keeper had charged Rs 1,500 from the group to take them across to the Light House.

According to SSP Ajith Rohana, boat keepers in most parts of the country have organised themselves as an association to provide boat trips to those who go on excursions and picnics in rivers, lakes and in the sea without paying adequate attention to safety precautions.

Police have issued the following guidelines to boatmen who hire boats for pleasure trips to avert disasters.

(1) To display a prominent sign on the boat the exact number it could accommodate.
(2) To provide life jackets to all passengers
(3) To brief passengers before setting out how they should conduct themselves in a crisis situation.

(4) To refrain from carrying passengers other than the prescribed number. Boat keepers who do not conform and violate such regulations could be dealt under the provisions of the Penal Code for criminal negligence.

According to Police, the two boatmen have been taken into custody following the tragedy for criminal negligence on their part.

“The boatmen failed to provide life jackets to passengers who hired the boat endangering their lives.

The stormy weather conditions which prevailed that day may also have contributed to the tragedy when the boat swayed which spread panic among passengers”, the Police Media Spokesman said.

The magisterial inquiry and the autopsy was held at the Nagoda hospital and their bodies were handed over to their relatives, police said.

Many may recall a harrowing incident which happened at Kandalama almost a decade ago when several employees of a popular resort hotel at Kandalama drowned when their boat capsized in the Kandalama tank. Even the hotel's astrologer who went on that boat ride was drowned to the surprise of many.

Among other employees of the hotel who perished was a young girl from Kandy who started her career in the front office of that hotel.

The drowning episode at Kandalama was very much similar to the incident at Beruwela last week.