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Victims’ families hit out as boat tragedy sinks in
View(s):- 50 people were travelling in a fishing vessel meant for six and operated by an inexperienced ‘skipper’
- Navy spoeksman says incident eye opener to all stakeholders, calls for regulations on boat movements, to prevent such incidents in future
By Chrishanthi Christopher
Last week’s incident where a fishing boat transporting people to an annual church feast capsized killing 16 and injuring 33 in the high seas of Kalutara has plunged the people of Beruwela into mourning.
On Wednesday the Bandarawatte residents of Beruwela buried seven of the victims after a funeral service presided over by Cardinal Malcom Ranjith. The residents were still in shock and disbelief after so many lives were taken away in a flash. When the Sunday Times visited the area death notices, banners, posters expressing the community’s sorrow were seen on every wall, pillar and post of homes and buildings – a sense of death pervading the atmosphere.
A victim who was on board the ill-fated fishing boat being rushed to hospital. Pix by Ranjith Perera, Sarath Siriwardana and Ratnasiri Premalal
The tragedy that took place on Sunday morning included three children and seven women. Randhi Kalpini Perera (26) was one of them.
The only girl in a family of four Randhi was an accounts clerk at the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA). She had wanted to participate in the annual boat procession, ‘sindrathi’ – as the locals called it. Sindrathi is a festival conducted by fisherfolk to obtain blessings for their fishing boats during the annual feast at St Lazarus church in Kalutara.
The boat festival is a tradition enjoyed by the fisherfolk for decades but it has now spilled over to the entire community. As before, this year too around 20 fishing boats left the shores of Bandarawatte carrying people towards the church in Kalutara. Tradition requires the boats stop about five kilometres away from the shore and obtain the blessings of the priest, whilst at sea.
Lots are cast and the lucky boat gets to carry the saint’s statue and the procession proceeds in circular pattern for about 50 kilometres in the waters. The procession concludes with the statue being handed back to the church and the people returning home. For Randhi it was her first time and she was determined to participate in the festival. Since none of her family members was free to accompany her she joined a close neighbour. She never returned home.
Anton Suresh Perera (34), Randhi’s brother claims that the tragedy had occurred due to the negligence of the boat operator. He said on that fateful day a man with no experience in operating boats was in charge of operating the ill- fated vessel that was one among about 30 boats carrying pilgrims. He had failed to fill the lower deck of the boat with ice, fuel and water as is the practice. This had created an imbalance in weight causing the boat to topple. Eye witnesses say over 50 people boarding the vessel had changed the equilibrium and the boat started rocking.
People had panicked and had rushed to one side of the boat and hung on to the metal railing worsening the listing of the vessel.
This particular fishing trawler ‘ Little Moonshine’ had the capacity only to carry a maximum of six passengers and there were no extra life jackets on board.
It is learnt that as a practice people would gather in the harbour and jump into any boat and join the festival. Suresh said this practice should stop and the festival needs to be organised properly. ‘The church, the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and organizing committee should co-ordinate and make the arrangements,” he said.
Murage Chandralal Fernando (51) a fisherman who we spoke to at the harbour described the scene vividy. He said that he was in an adjacent boat when the tragedy happened. He too opined the boat capsised because of the lack of weight in the lower deck. “The boat had no water, ice or diesel stored,” he said.
Despite this shortcoming, he said about four passengers who were on the upper deck were stomping and causing the vessel to rock. He said the the passengers had hung on to the rail of the boat in desperation. “The tighter they held the boat got pushed into the waters on one side and turned over”.
Compounding the situation were the fishing nets stored in the upper deck that fell on the victims in the lower deck. People were caught in the net like fish and were pushed into the waters. Even those who could swim were helpless unable to free themselves. Some who were thrown over board were rescued or swam back to the shore.
Chandralal had sprung into action and with a little knife he had started cutting off the plastic floats attached to the net freeing those trapped. The floats he said served as buoyant for some who were rescued.
He charged that although the fisherman had informed the Navy as soon as the tragedy occurred they arrived about one and a half hours later.
However, Navy Media spokesman Lt. Commander Chandralal Walakulage refuted the charge and said that the Rapid Response Rescue Team were at the scene of the tragedy . “We got the message around 11.50 a.m. and our rescue team with 20 sailors were there within 20 minutes. Within 30 minutes two ‘DVORAS’ (speed boats) with 15 divers joined from Colombo,” he said.
He said his men were involved with the major part of the operation cutting down entangled nets and rescuing bodies that were trapped beneath. It took three days to right the vessel that had turned turtle.
Lt. Commander Walakulage said the incident was an eye opener to all stakeholders and that regulations have to be brought on boat movements, to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.
| ‘Skipper’ charged with murder, Â culpable murder and non-culpable murder Kalutara OIC Indika Bandara said the skipper was taken into custody on Thursday night and was charged under the penal code section 296, 297 and 298 for murder, culpable murder and non-culpable murder. The suspect, a 24 year old man was produced in the Kalutara Magistrate Court and was remanded until March 6.
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| Parents who survived, but lost one son recall harrowing tale
 Chrisham, younger son (right) and wife Nadeeka (above) When he looked around he was in the lower deck. He could not see his wife and older son. Lifting his son onto his shoulders he waded through the waters that was nose high. Reaching the upper deck he hung on to the bar pole on the side of the boat and waited for help. He urged two other youngsters to hang on to the pole and wait for the rescue team. Later he said he was rescued by those who came in small boats. “They were picking up people at random, helping only those who were shouting for help. My pleas to search for my wife and son went unheeded,” he said. We were taken to hospital and all the time I thought Gihan would be alive and we would find him. But on Wednesday his body was found and had to buried immediately as he had been too long in the waters,” he lamented. She alleged that the group were smoking ganja, videoing and having fun. ‘I saw him steer the wheel with his legs a couple of times. Thy are responsible for this mass murder. They should be punished,” she hit out. |
Chrisham describing the ordeal said at the beginning he was holding his two children by the collars of their shirts and his wife by her hair. However they were pushed 30 feet down into the deep sea and when he resurfaced he had let go of his wife and Gihan. He saw them a few feet away but was unable to help them. The force of the waters had thrown him back into the boat. He however managed to hold onto his three year old son.