India: Children drown in school trip horror
At least 18 children and four teachers drowned today and more than a dozen more children were missing after a boat carrying the group on a school trip capsized.
The incident happened on a river in the southern Indian state of Kerala, a local official said.
Three boats were carrying more than 100 students and staff down the Periyar River in the Thattekkad bird sanctuary when one boat capsized, said Mohammad Haneesh, a top official in the district. All the children were younger than 11.
As darkness fell in the area tonight, 16 children were still missing, and 10 had been admitted to a local hospital, he said. Rescue teams were flocking to the scene to help in the search.
It was not clear how many children were in the boat that capsized.
The Thattekkad sanctuary is around 25 miles east of Cochin, Kerala’s commercial hub.
