The body of a person missing following a speedboat accident on Sunday has been discovered, police said.
Police identified the person as Dhaudh Mohamed, 28, from the island of Kulhudhufushi in Haa Dhaalu Atoll.
According to police Dhaudh was discovered yesterday at about 5:58pm during a search.
The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) coast guard said the dead body was discovered by divers near the Reethi Rah resort.
In a statement issued yesterday, police said they were informed that one person was missing from the speedboat at 3:00pm yesterday.
The marine police department and coast guard began searching for the missing person upon receiving the information he was missing.
Yesterday morning at 8:45am a speedboat travelling to Male’ from Reethi Rah collided with an oil tanker.
According to local newspapers, some of the passengers aboard the speedboat were critically injured and one passenger was reported to have been paralysed.
Newspaper ‘Haveeru’ reported alleged the captain of the speedboat was asleep when the accident took place. The paper reported that the captain of the speedboat was now under arrest.
The hospital and police have not provided information to any media regarding the injuries received to passengers.
Yesterday the police confirmed that an Indian and a Philippine national were among the eight injured in the accident.
Police said the eight victims were admitted to ADK and Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) and were receiving treatment.
Both vessels were damaged in the incident.
In December 2012, a collision between two speed boats left a Finnish tourist dead and nine other people injured.
The collision occurred between an express speedboat service to the island of Hulhumale’ – which is located near to the capital of Male’ – and another vessel belonging to the Bandos Island Resort and Spa property.
In January 2013 this year, five people received minor injuries in a collision between two ferry services travelling to and from the the islands of Hulhumale’ and Hulhule’.
In February 2010, 11 people were injured when a Hulhumale’ ferry travelling to Male collided with a speedboat coming to Male’ from the Rannaalhi resort with tourists aboard.
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Wouldn't it be nice if boats were operated in a more professional manner? Right now it's an ocean full of boats with the attitude of "every man for himself" with no courtesy given or respect shown. Everyday you will witness one boat cutting in front of the other, or racing to get ahead of the other. You might get away with that bad attitude on the streets of Malé, but the ocean is a lot less forgiving and not everyone knows how to swim. Boat operators should remember they're responsible for the safety of their passengers and they should take that more seriously.
I knew Areef,captain of this boat and how hard his schedule was. When humans are deprived of proper sleep such accidents will occur. In Maldives nobody follows proper guidelines in such high risk jobs. To me the management who don't remove occupational hazards are to be blamed.
Veagain...it is very sad to see the comments from some of the readers on pining the blame on the resort mgt. , this launch was an outsourced agency which is being run by a local company..they should have safeguards in place for ensuring such an incident does not take place again, it is human lives that we are talking about...