In a tragic incident, eight people of a family, including seven women, died Sunday after being swept away by strong currents while collecting mussels from the Tatte Hakkalu river in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district. Meanwhile, another three persons, who were part of the same group, still remained missing.
The incident took place near Tattihakkalu Kalinatti Hole, close to Alvekodi in Shirali village, Bhatkal taluk of Uttara Kannada district. According to the police, the victims have been identified as Lakshmi Mahadev Naik (42), Umesh Naik (30), Lakshmi Naik (30), Lakshmi Annappa Naik (60), Lakshmi Shivaram Naik (49), Jyothi Nagappa Naik (34), Malathi Naik (38), and Masthamma Naik.
Uttara Kannada Police Deputy Commissioner Lakshmipriya K told media that they received the information around noon on Sunday, after which the teams rushed to the spot. “The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), local fisheries community and coastal security police are involved in search operations of the missing,” she added.
Two women, Nagaratna and Mahadevi, narrowly survived the incident. Both were rescued and shifted to a hospital in Manipal, where their condition was reported to be stable.
One of the survivors told the police that they were collecting mussels, locally known as “Kappe Chippu”, from the riverbed while holding each other’s hands.
However, due to overnight rainfall, the water inflow suddenly increased which the victims failed to notice. Authorities believe the sudden surge in water flow, combined with strong tidal currents from the nearby sea, swept the group away.
A police officer said that about 14 people from Shirali village had ventured into the river, and are trying to collect details of the deceased.
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Mourning the tragedy in a social media post on X, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced Rs 5 lakh compensation for the families of each of the deceased. “There is information that many of them in the family are still missing and efforts are being made to trace them,” the CM added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced a Rs 2 lakh ex gratia for the kin of the deceased. Taking to X, Modi wrote: “Deeply pained to hear about a mishap in Karwar, Karnataka. My condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest. An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000.”
Search operations remained underway to rescue the three missing persons on Sunday.
