Goa suspends water sports following tragedy at sea
After this week’s tragic drowning of three Russian tourists off the Goa coastline, the state government has blocked all further water sports activities in the state.
On Tuesday three Russian women died after a boat capsized off Goa’s Canaguinim beach during a dolphin watching trip.
The boat was carrying a total of 10 Russian tourists and investigations concluded it was operating without a valid permit, said Goa tourism director Amey Abhyankar.
“The incident involving drowning of three Russian tourists is very unfortunate. The capsised boat was operating without permissions and an FIR has been registered against the boat operator,” Abhyankar told reporters.
“All water sports operators and owners are hereby directed to stop all water sports operations and activities on the designated beaches of Goa, with immediate effect, until further order,” the tourism department said.
Although the department has registered and issued permits for 1,500 operators on Goa’s beaches, there are many more operating illegally.
Officials said none of the boat’s passengers were wearing mandatory life jackets at the time.
The bodies of the three victims have been formally identified as Nikolaeva Tatiana, Bulastova Irina and Elena Kulikova.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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