Bodies of 10 Tamil Nadu victims in Vietnam boat tragedy brought home

The mortal remains of 10 Tamil Nadu residents killed in the Vietnam speedboat accident arrived in Chennai and Coimbatore. Officials coordinated their return from Mumbai, while grieving families received the bodies amid emotional scenes before they were taken to their hometowns

Chennai: Flights carrying the mortal remains of 10 residents hailing from Tamil Nadu killed in a boat accident in Vietnam reached the state on Tuesday morning. The bodies were flown from Mumbai. Six bodies were brought to Coimbatore and the remaining four to Chennai. Heart-wrenching scenes unfolded at the Chennai and Coimbatore airports as grieving families received the bodies of their loved ones, who perished after their speedboat overturned at sea.

Of the 15 victims, 10 hailed from Tamil Nadu, three from Andhra Pradesh and two from Kerala. The bodies of Vinaya Kumar Chithapuram Bhaskara (Vellore), Ravisankar Sugumaran (Tiruvannamalai), Santosh Kumar Shantilaljain (Chennai), and Babu Kuppuswamy (Chennai) were received in Chennai.

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Six bodies –J Senthil Kumar (Dharmapuri), S Sridhar (Salem), A Muruga Prabhu (Palani), A Shaik Abdullah (Tiruchi), N Balaji (Tiruchi) S Alagurajan (Tiruchi)– arrived at Coimbatore in two flights.

Prabhakaran, a relative of one of the victims, expressed profound grief over the sudden demise of his 49-year-old family member. Speaking to PTI Videos, he stated that the family was struggling to recover from the tragedy but expressed gratitude that the body was brought home and handed over to them without any procedural hardship.

Prabhakaran thanked the Tamil Nadu government, Chief Minister Joseph C Vijay, TVK’s Vellore MLA Vinoth, DIG Santosh Kumar, and an Indian Embassy official in Vietnam for their seamless coordination.

The caskets initially arrived at the Mumbai international airport on a Vietnam Airlines flight from Ho Chi Minh City at 9.30 pm on July 13. The following day, the bodies were dispatched to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, the respective home states of the deceased.

Senior officials, including Tamil Nadu Police DIG Santosh Kumar and Regional Passport Officer Swapnil Thorat, were present at the international cargo area in Chennai to oversee the arrival.

Following the completion of customs clearance at the international import heavy cargo shed, the caskets were shifted to the domestic cargo facility.

The bodies of the victims from Tamil Nadu were flown to Coimbatore and Chennai on multiple early morning flights, while the remains of those from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala were booked on flights to Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram, respectively.

Officials were present at the Coimbatore airport as well to receive the bodies and transport them to the houses of the victims. According to Vietnamese media reports, 15 Indian tourists were killed in the accident on Saturday.

The speedboat was carrying 32 Indian tourists and four crew members when it capsized about 400 metres off Hon May Rut Ngoai, an island in the An Thoi archipelago off the coast of Phu Quoc.