The toll in the Wednesday’s boat tragedy in Kochi rose to ten with the recovery of two more bodies from the backwaters while the State witnessed another mishap on Friday when two houseboats caught fire in Alapuzha district.
The search operation team fished out the bodies of Fousia and Shilton, police said.
Six persons were killed and 25 other passengers rescued when the boat, carrying around 35 people, capsized and sank after being hit by a speeding fishing craft in the harbour mouth off Fort Kochi on August 26. Two bodies were recovered on Thursday.
A houseboat was completely destroyed and another one partially damaged in the fire at Punnamada backwaters in the early hours, police said.
No one was hurt in the incident that occurred on Onam, as there were no tourists in the boats, which were parked at the jetty, police said.
A cook in the small houseboat in which the fire was noticed ran to safety, police said.
Quick action in moving away other boats docked in the area averted a possible major mishap, they said, adding preliminary investigation showed short circuit to be the cause of the fire.
