Vietnam boat tragedy: Incentive tour for Lava Mobiles staff turns fatal for 15 Indians

ALl 15 Indians killed when a tourer boat capsized away socialist republic of vietnam’s Phu Quoc coast on sabbatum were linked to Lava Mobiles: 14 dealers and distributors the accompany calls its channel partners, and one member of its own staff, the company said. Families of the dead said the trip was an incentive tour organised by Lava to reward dealers and distributors who had hit sales targets.Ten of the dead were from Tamil Nadu, three from Andhra Pradesh and two from Kerala, according to their state governments and the Embassy of India’s list of the deceased. In Tiruchirappalli, the family of S Alagurajan, a Lava Mobiles employee who handled sales across Karur, Tiruchirappalli and Thanjavur districts, first heard of the accident from television news at about 3.30pm on Saturday, and only later learned from the company that he was among the dead, his father-in-law, R Thangavel, said. “Alagurajan is my daughter’s husband. He is a father to two sons. Only last Wednesday, they left for Vietnam,” Thangavel said, adding that Alagurajan had been sent on the trip after meeting a three-month sales target. District administration officials and the chief minister’s office had assured the family of help in bringing the body home, Thangavel said.The embassy’s list of the Tamil Nadu victims: J Senthil Kumar, A Muruga Prabhu, S Sridhar, Shaik Abdullah Abdul Majeed, N Balaji, C B Vinaya Kumar, S Ravishankar, S Santosh Kumar, K Babu and S Alagurajan.In Andhra Pradesh’s Kadapa, the dead included Mudiam Sridhar, 45, who had spent nearly two decades as Lava’s Kadapa distributor under the banner of Kaushik Communications and separately owned three mobile retail outlets in the district. He left for Vietnam on July 8 as part of a Lava dealer meet, travelling via Chennai and Bangkok. His brother, Ramesh, said the family first learned of his death through Nayeem, a fellow Kadapa distributor who survived the accident and called to say Sridhar had drowned; official confirmation had not yet come, Ramesh said. An employee at Sridhar’s business said he had been due to return to India on Sunday and, on Nayeem’s account, had been taken to hospital and declared dead. Sridhar is survived by his wife, Dhanalakshmi, and two children.Gelli Jayasri, 35, of Machilipatnam, and N Ravi Teja, 41, of Sri Sathya Sai district, were also among the dead. Jayasri’s husband, Gelli Kishore, 40, was in critical condition in a Vietnam hospital; the couple had travelled on the same Lava tour and were due back on Sunday. Ravi Teja’s family could not be reached.Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said 33 people from the state had travelled to Vietnam on the tour, of whom 19 were on the boat when it capsized; three died, one was seriously injured and the rest were rescued.Murugaraj, a Tamil Nadu survivor, said the boat had gone about 2 km out to sea on Saturday morning when a large wave hit and it tilted to the right, throwing passengers on top of one another. “We could not handle the pressure as the ship was overturning. Somehow, we managed to get out through the window and grabbed onto the railings,” he said, adding that rescue teams reached them within five minutes.A statement issued by the Kerala chief minister’s office said that the Indian Embassy in Vietnam has officially confirmed that A C Thomas (57) and his wife Loveni Thomas (56) died in the accident. Both were natives of Kottarakkara, it said.Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay directed officials to coordinate with the Tamil Nadu House in New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian embassy on rescue, medical assistance and repatriation of the bodies. Governor Rajendra Arlekar, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi and Tamil Nadu BJP chief Nainar Nagenthran also extended condolences, with Palaniswami and the governor calling for coordinated efforts to expedite the return of the deceased and treatment of the injured.Lava said it remained “in close and continuous contact” with the Indian Embassy in Vietnam and local authorities and was working toward “the earliest possible repatriation of the mortal remains.” Its teams in India and Vietnam were staying close to the affected families, extending “every possible assistance,” the company said.Condolences poured in, including from President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President C P Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Saddened by the news of a boat accident in Vietnam in which many Indian nationals lost their lives. My deep condolences to the grieving families. I pray for speedy recovery of the injured,” Murmu said in a post on X. Radhakrishnan said he was “deeply anguished” by the accident and offered “heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families in this hour of grief.”Modi, in a post on X, said the Indian Embassy and Consulate were providing all possible assistance and that Indian officials were in close contact with the Vietnamese authorities.Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also expressed grief over the boat capsize. “Deeply saddened by the tragic boat capsizing near Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam, carrying Indian tourists...,” the Congress leader said in a post on X.