A 45-year-old man drowned in Alappuzha backwaters after falling off a houseboat at Thottathodu S.N. Junction here on Sunday night. The deceased was identified as Pradeep P. Nair, of Sreenarayanapuram, near Varkala, Thiruvananthapuram. He was a head clerk at Industrial Training Institute, Chengannur.
According to the Tourism Police, the victim slipped and fell into the water from the vessel ‘Bon Voyage’ around 9.30 p.m. The boat was anchored at the time of the incident. His body was taken out by the Fire and Rescue Services personnel on Monday morning. “He was among a group of 12 who reached Alappuzha to experience a backwater cruise on a houseboat. After the day trip, seven of them returned by evening and five stayed back on the vessel. We were informed of the incident by the crew of another vessel anchored nearby. As it was nighttime, we couldn’t immediately identify the accident spot. By the time the police reached there, the crew of ‘Bon Voyage’ had escaped from the scene,” said a police official.
