The company said that all 15 Indians who died when a tourist boat capsized off the coast of Phu Quoc in Vietnam on Saturday were linked to Lava Mobiles: 14 dealers and distributors that the company calls channel partners, and one member of its staff. The families of the dead said that the trip was an incentive tour organized by Lava to reward dealers and distributors who achieved sales targets.
Ten of the dead were from Tamil Nadu, three from Andhra Pradesh and two from Kerala, according to their state governments and a list of the deceased released by the Embassy of India.
In Tiruchirappalli, the family of S Alagurajan, a Lava Mobiles employee who handled sales in Karur, Tiruchirappalli and Thanjavur districts, first heard about the incident from TV news at around 3.30pm on Saturday, and only later learned from the company that he was among those killed, said his father-in-law, R Thangavel. “Alagurajan is my son-in-law. He is a father of two sons. Only last Wednesday, they left for Vietnam,” Thangavel said, adding that Alagurajan was sent on the trip after achieving a three-month sales target. Thangavel said that district administration officials and the chief minister’s office have assured the family of assistance in bringing the body home.
Embassy list of Tamil Nadu victims: G Senthil Kumar, A Muruga Prabhu, S Sridhar, Sheikh Abdul Majeed, N Balaji, CB Vinaya Kumar, S Ravishankar, S Santosh Kumar, K Babu, S Alagurajan.
In Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, among those killed was Modiam Sridhar, 45, who spent nearly two decades as a Lava Kadapa distributor under the Kaushik Communications banner and separately owned three mobile phone retail outlets in the area. He left for Vietnam on 8 July as part of the Lava Merchants Meeting, traveling via Chennai and Bangkok. His brother, Ramesh, said the family first learned of his death through Naeem, a fellow Kadapa distributor who survived the accident and called to say Sridhar had drowned; Ramesh said the official confirmation is yet to come. An employee at Sridhar’s company said he was scheduled to return to India on Sunday, and according to Naeem’s account, he was taken to hospital and declared dead. Sridhar is survived by his wife Dhanalakshmi and two children.
Gili Jayasree, 35, of Machilipatnam, and N Ravi Teja, 41, of Sri Sathya Sai area, were also among those killed. Jayasree’s husband, Gilly Kishore, 40, was in critical condition in a Vietnam hospital; The couple had traveled on the same lava tour and were scheduled to return on Sunday. Ravi Teja’s family could not be reached.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said 33 people from the state traveled to Vietnam on the tour, including 19 who were on the boat when it capsized. Three died, one was seriously injured, and the rest were rescued.
Murugaraj, a survivor from Tamil Nadu, said the boat had sailed about two kilometers out to sea on Saturday morning when it was hit by a large wave and tilted to the right, causing the passengers to fall on top of each other. “We couldn’t handle the pressure as the ship capsized. Somehow, we managed to get out the window and cling to the railing,” he added, adding that rescue teams reached them within five minutes.
A statement issued by the Kerala Chief Minister’s Office said that the Indian Embassy in Vietnam officially confirmed the death of AC Thomas (57 years old) and his wife Loveni Thomas (56 years old) in the accident. She added that both are indigenous people of Kottarakkara.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay directed the officials to coordinate with the Tamil Nadu Home in New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy on rescue, medical assistance and repatriation of the bodies. Governor Rajendra Arlikar, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi and Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagenthran also extended their condolences, calling on Palaniswami and the governor to coordinate efforts to speed up the return of the deceased and treat the injured.
Lava said she has remained in “close and constant contact” with the Indian Embassy in Vietnam and local authorities, and is working to “repatriate the remains as soon as possible.” The company said that its teams in India and Vietnam remained close to the affected families and provided “every possible assistance.”
Condolences poured in, including from President Draupadi Murmu, Vice President CP Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I am saddened by the news of a boat accident in Vietnam in which several Indian nationals lost their lives. My deepest condolences to the bereaved families. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,” Murmu said in a post on X. Radhakrishnan said he was “deeply saddened” by the incident and offered his “heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families in this hour of grief.”
In a post on the X website, Modi said that the Indian embassy and consulate are providing all possible assistance, and that Indian officials are in close contact with Vietnamese authorities.
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also expressed grief over the capsized boat. The Congress leader said in a post on the X website: “I am deeply saddened by the tragic boat capsizing near Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam, with Indian tourists on board…”
