Palani mobile trader dies in Vietnam boat tragedy during incentive trip

DINDIGUL: A reward trip to Vietnam turned tragic for a 43-year-old mobile phone trader from Palani, who drowned after a tourist boat capsized off Phu Quoc Island just a day before he was due to return home.

Murugaprabu (43) of Sivagiripatti near Palani had travelled to Vietnam with his business partner Nirmalkumar (41) and other dealers from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on an incentive tour organised by a private mobile phone company in recognition of their sales performance.

According to family members, Murugaprabu had shared photographs from the trip on his WhatsApp status just hours before the accident and had told relatives that he would return to Palani on Monday after completing the tour.

The accident occurred around 11 am on Saturday (July 11) when the group was travelling by boat to Phu Quoc Island. Strong winds reportedly caused the vessel to capsize, and Murugaprabu drowned. Vietnamese rescue teams are engaged in recovery operations.

Murugaprabu jointly ran a mobile phone showroom with Nirmalkumar at Palani Four Roads and was also the wholesale distributor for a private mobile phone company in the Palani and Udumalpet regions.

He is survived by his wife Mahalakshmi (35) and their eight-year-old daughter Sarvika, a Class III student at a private school in Palani.

His family has appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to help bring his body back to India. Revenue officials are said to be coordinating the necessary arrangements.