12 students, 2 teachers dead as boat capsizes in Vadodara lake

Initial investigations suggested that the boat was loaded far beyond its capacity and that there were no life-jackets on board

At least 14 people – 12 schoolchildren and two teachers – were killed after a seemingly overcrowded boat carrying a school group on a picnic overturned into the Harni lake in Gujarat’s Vadodara on Thursday evening, local officials said.

People gather during a rescue and search operation near a lake in Vadodara on Thursday. (PTI)

Rescuers from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) looked for survivors and bodies late into the evening as darkness fell, with 13 children having been rescued.

Initial investigations suggested that the boat was loaded far beyond its capacity and that there were no life-jackets on board, senior government officials said.

“The incident took place around 5pm when children from New Sunrise School located on Waghodia Road in Vadodara were out for a picnic. The children were from Class 1 to Class 6. The maximum capacity of the boat is around 14 passengers, but more than 31 people were crammed on it at the time of the accident besides the four operators,” local officials, who did not wish to be identified, said.

Videos taken shortly after the incident showed rescuers on inflatable boats trying to guide at least half a dozen divers look for survivors or bodies.

The lake was re-developed by the Vadodara civic body for recreational purposes.

This is the deadliest boating accident in the city since August 11, 1993, when 22 people were killed after an overloaded boat capsized in the Sursagar lake, which is also maintained by the Vadodara civic body.

A first information report, or FIR, has been filed against five individuals, including the promoters of the company operating the boats. The state government has also initiated a high-level inquiry into the matter, to be headed by the Vadodara district magistrate. A comprehensive report is to be filed within the next 10 days in this regard.

The contract for operating the boat was with a firm called Sri Kotiya Project, which was promoted by a person named Paresh Shah, Anupam Singh Gahlaut, commissioner of police, Vadodara told HT.

“We have booked the owners of the boat and its management under various sections, including section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder),” Gahlaut said.

“So far, we have recovered 12 bodies of schoolchildren and two of teachers... NDRF officials and others are still carrying out search operations. The water level is about 25 feet deep. The students had gone on the boat in batches and the accident happened with the final batch. There were 27 students, four teachers and four operators in the boat that sank,” said Gahlaut, adding that based on early estimates, all students appeared to be accounted for.

An investigation has been initiated into the incident, Gehlaut said, adding that while their immediate focus was on rescue efforts, they will also probe the role of the school management for negligence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia relief of ₹2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the families of each of the deceased, and ₹50,000 each for the families of those wounded in the accident.

“Distressed by the loss of lives due to a boat capsizing at the Harni lake in Vadodara. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. May the injured recover soon. The local administration is providing all possible assistance to those affected,” PM Modi wrote on X.

Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, who arrived at the site in the evening and was monitoring the rescue operation, said in a post on X that the state government will give a solatium of ₹4 lakh for the family of the deceased and ₹50,000 for the family of the injured. “At present, emergency relief-rescue and treatment operations are going on through the system. We all feel and pray that more and more lives can be saved,” he said.

Asma Mansuri, 39, whose seven-year-old son was part of the picnic group but on another boat, said that her son is in a state of shock and has been silent since his return. “He has seen his friends and schoolmates drown in front of his eyes. The school did not ensure that there are enough people on the boat who could swim to save the children, which appears to have been the main cause of the high death toll,” she said.

She blamed the school management for being careless. “I am really shocked. How can the school management be so careless? I can only feel grateful that my son is alive,” said Mansuri.

She said the school authorities never informed them about the accident, and that they only learnt of it when the news broke on local news channels. When my son’s grandfather went to pick him up from the school on Thursday evening, as was planned, he was told that the bus carrying the children had not yet returned. “He came back home alone and said that the bus had not returned and that there were no children at school. Then around 5.30pm I saw the news on TV about a boat being capsized at the lake. I was relieved only when my brother-in-law rushed to the scene and discovered that my son was safe,” said Mansuri.

Sohanlal Kahar, another parent of a surviving student, said that he was waiting for a text message from the school to pick up his son. When he did not get the text, he decided to go to the school, where authorities told him to collect his child from Harni lake. “My son told us that the boat made several trips to ferry the children, and on the third trip it overturned. My son is in second class, and this is all he has told us so far.”

Gujarat education minister Kuber Dindor was quoted as saying by PTI that a probe has been ordered after he learnt that the boat was carrying more persons than the stipulated number. “I have also learnt students were not wearing life jackets at the time of the accident. We will take action against those found guilty (of lapses),” Dindor said.