Three persons, including the owner of the over-crowded tourist boat, which capsized in the Andaman Sea near Port Blair, were on Monday detained.
An FIR has been lodged against them and they are being questioned, sources in the Andaman and Nicobar administration said.
One person was still missing while all the bodies had been identified and sent back to Chennai and other places where the victims hailed from, sources said.
No life jackets, divers onboard capsized boat: Narayanasamy
There were no life jackets and divers on board the ill-fated boat that capsized in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Union Minister V Narayanasamy on Monday said.
Eyewitnesses to the boat tragedy also claimed that there was a blast before the boat capsized and that there was an hour’s delay before the marine rescue team could reach the spot.
“The boat capsized and they (tourists) died. In fact I came to know from reports that there were no life jackets in the boat and no divers to rescue the people. There was no guard in the boat,” the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office said, terming the incident as “sad” and “unfortunate“.
He also demanded a thorough inquiry into the tragedy.
Twenty-one persons died and 29 were rescued in the boat tragedy.
Of the dead, three hailed from Maharashtra, 16 from Tamil Nadu and one each from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.
The survivors included seven from Maharashtra, 15 from Tamil Nadu, two from New Delhi, one each from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and three from the Andaman Islands.
