SURVENT

This is a tragic story from India. The article on CNN is short, so I am quoting the whole thing below:

COCHIN, India (AP) -- A river boat carrying children on a school trip capsized in southern India on Tuesday, and at least 18 children and four teachers drowned, a local official said. Sixteen children were missing as night fell.

Three boats were carrying more than 100 students and staff down the Periyar River in the Thattekkad bird sanctuary when one boat capsized, said Mohammad Haneesh, a top official of the district. All the children were younger than 11.

As darkness fell, 16 children were still missing, and 10 had been admitted to a local hospital, he said.

It was not clear how many children were in the boat that capsized.

The Thattekkad sanctuary is about 25 miles east of Cochin, the commercial hub of the southern state of Kerala.

The United States has laws about all children on boats being required to wear life jackets for just this reason. If there had been life jackets on these kids, and I am assuming there were not due to the number of drown kids, perhaps many of them would still be alive. Children rely on adults to take the necessary actions to protect them and it seem like to many times in society lately, adults are failing the children. Accidents happen and safety devices are made for a reason. Please make sure if you are on a boat with children that they have the proper safety equipment on just in case. Sad, simply sad.