The dead included Egyptians and Sudanese and "other African nationalities", a health ministry official said. PHOTO: FILE
The accident occurred near the port city of Tuticorin, around 530 kilometres (330 miles) from Chennai, the capital of southern Tamil Nadu state. "I do not know how many tourists were travelling in the boat. Eight people have drowned and 17 others have been rescued and hospitalised," Tuticorin district collector M Ravi Kumar told the Press Trust of India.
Police have detained a boat operator for questioning, while the local administration has ordered a probe amid fears that the death toll could increase.
Police said the tourists apparently paid a boat operator around $2 for a joyride on Sunday evening.
Around 26 people died last month when an overcrowded wooden boat capsized in the Ganges river in eastern Bihar state.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2017.
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