“Most villagers now say they |want to travel by car or bus in-|stead,” Jakkrit Senkhao, imam of A-Lee Yinnuroy mosque, said yesterday.

On Sunday, nearly 100 people living near his mosque joined a boat trip to the festival, but many of them did not return alive.

Their boat capsized on the Chao Phraya River in the afternoon, killing 28 passengers and injuring dozens of others.

Jakkrit said he would discuss |with imams from other mosques |in Ayutthaya’s Mueang district |the possibility of changing the |mode of transport for the annual festival.

“We need to ensure that no |such tragedy ever occurs again,” |he said, adding, “At this point, |we have not yet reached a conclu-sion, but I will definitely raise |the idea of using cars with other imams.”

A local resident, Preecha Yimyoo, said he intended to join the an-|nual merit-making trip next year, no matter what mode of transport was used.

“But during the past few days, I’ve heard that we will be travelling in cars instead,” he added.

Jakkrit said a transport-safety discussion was essential after the accident.

He lamented that Sunday’s tragedy had taken the lives of 28 people, who meant the world to the families left behind.

Preecha lost three family members in the accident.

“We are shocked. We are grieving,” Jakkrit said.

Every evening this week, locals have gathered at his mosque to |pray for those who have perished, and he said the mosque would |conduct merit-making rituals |in their memory for a full week.

The mosque has received some financial donations and rice for the victims’ families, he added.

There are now concerns, how-ever, that the families of the vic-|tims may not find it easy getting compensation, due to insurance issues.

While the boat owner had taken out insurance, his vessel was |supposed to carry just 50 passengers.

But, at the time of the accident, it is estimated that there were more than 100 people on board.

It was also revealed that the licence of the boat driver, who is now facing charges over the accident, had already expired.

At this point, the families of the victims have only been given Bt5,000 per fatality.

The boat, which was partial-|ly sunk in the accident, has |already been salvaged and |towed to a garage for police examination.

Meanwhile, search operations continued in the Pasak River yesterday for two missing victims of another boat tragedy.

The victims were rowers, aged 17 and 23, whose boat capsized during a practice session on the river on Tuesday.

“It’s a big loss for Muslim people in Ayutthaya,” lamented Jakkrit Senkhao, the imam of the A-Lee Yinnuroy mosque, which sits near the graveyard.

A number of local people took part in a religious trip to an annual Muslim event at the Takia Yokin Mosque on Sunday. But on their way back to the village, the twin-deck boat with 100 people on board, flipped to one side and they were thrown into the water.

The accident killed 22 people and injured dozens of others. Seven people are still missing.

‘I held her hands till last minute’

Saithong Boonlak, 54, survived the accident, but is traumatised at the loss of her daughter.

“I’m totally crestfallen, seeing my daughter gradually losing strength to hold on to the tilted boat and finally drowning,” she said. “I held her hands till the very last minute. She drowned”.

Saithong joined the fatal trip with her husband and their 16-year-old daughter. When the boat tilted, her husband who was in another part of the boat could not come to his family’s aid.

Somchai Mahamad, one of the A-Lee Yinnuroy mosque’s board members, said he was in charge of the Muslim pilgrims on the boat but the vessel sank too fast to rescue more people.

“I looked around and saw everyone scrambling for their life, some made it successfully towards the shore but some helplessly drowned. I saw everything but I didn’t know how to help them all,” he said.

Preecha Yimyoo, 33, is now praying that his mother and grandmother will be found safe.

“They are among the missing,” he said, adding his aunt was also injured in the accident.

Sunee Krutarchat said that after the accident, she struggled desperately to find her sister. “I finally found her at a hospital but she passed away,” Sunee said The mosque plans to hold merit-making ceremonies over the next three days in memory of the people who drowned.

The mosque and the hard-hit village are located in Tambon Sampao Lom, Muang Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya district. Sampao Lom can be roughly translated into “Sunken Junk”.