Karwar: At least 10 members of a family, including seven women, drowned while two others were reported missing after a group attempting to collect freshwater mussels was swept away by strong currents in the Tatte Hakkalu River in Uttara Kannada district, police sources said on Sunday.
Expressing grief, President Droupadi Murmu said the incident was “very distressing”. “I extend my deepest condolences to those who lost their loved ones. I pray for speedy recovery of the injured,” she said on X.
In a post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was deeply pained to hear about the mishap in Karwar district. “My condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest,” he said.
An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000, he said.
Mourning the tragedy, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced a solatium of Rs five lakh to the next to the kin of each victim.
According to police sources, around 14 people from Shirali village had entered the river to collect mussels, a seasonal activity practised by local communities along riverbanks and coastal regions.
“During the process, they allegedly moved deeper into the river without accurately assessing the water level. When the water flow suddenly increased, one or two persons were swept away,” police said.
Several others then jumped into the river in an attempt to rescue those struggling in the water, leading to more people being caught in the strong current. Police sources said ten bodies had been recovered so far.
Among the deceased, eight people have been identified as Umesh Manjunath Naik (40), Laxmi Mahadev Naik (42), Laxmi Jattappa Naik (30), Laxmi Appanna Naik (60), Laxmi Shivaram Naik (49), Jyoti Mastamma Naik (34), Malati Naik (38) and Mastamma Naik (60).
The two people who were rescued are Nagaratna and Mahadevi, who have been admitted to the hospital. Rescue personnel, police teams and local residents were continuing intensive search operations in the river. The deceased were stated to be natives of Shirali in Bhatkal taluk.
The sources said the incident occurred after the river current intensified amid rains in the region, sweeping away multiple persons who had ventured into deeper sections of the water body while collecting mussels.
Collecting freshwater mussels is a livelihood activity for some sections of people, similar to fishing. Many of those involved were experienced in the work and had reportedly undertaken such activities earlier as well, sources said.
Authorities were yet to ascertain how many among the victims knew swimming and the exact sequence of events leading to the tragedy, police sources added.
In a post on X, Siddaramaiah said he was deeply distressed to learn about the “extremely tragic and painful incident” and prayed for peace to the departed souls.
On humanitarian grounds, the state government will provide compensation of Rs five lakh each to the families of those who died in this tragedy, he said. The CM further said that there is also information that some others are missing in this accident, and an intensive search is under way for them.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar mourned the tragedy. Leader of Opposition in the state assembly R Ashoka also condoled the deaths.
