Search and rescue operations where 6 people were rescued alive, 13 dead bodies were recovered and probably 5 victims are still missing at boat mishap that happened around 7:45 p.m on Tuesday11, March, 2014. Working figure was put at 24. The people were to be conveyed across a small river that is less than ten feet wide. Rescuers were not alerted until around 11:10 p.m which made prompt response difficult. They did not wear life jacket and extremely over loaded above the capacity of the wooden boat.
NEMA, LASEMA, NAVY SPECIALBOAT SERVICE, NIWA and local divers all cooperated during the operation.
