Boating accident takes lives of professor's wife, daughter

A family excursion on the Schuylkill River turned tragic for Wharton professor Krishnan Anand, whose wife and daughter died in a canoe accident on Labor Day.

Anand, an Operations and Information Management professor, survived the accident.

At around 4:30 p.m. on Monday, the Anands were traveling on a difficult stretch of the river under the Route 82 bridge near Birdsboro when their canoe flipped over, trapping both wife Vidya, 29, and daughter, Tara, 3, underwater.

Krishnan was pinned against the support pillar of the bridge and was unable to free himself.

While most of the stretch the Anands were canoeing is only around three feet deep, the area by the bridge is extremely deep and the current is strong.

According to Birdsboro police officer Craig Reinhart, people along the shore heard Krishnan's yells for help and managed to pull him out of the water.

Birdsboro Fire Company Chief Vernon Kulp III, who coordinated the fire rescue and ambulances from the bridge overhead, said that rescue personnel and local residents helped pull Tara from under the canoe.

Tara was found about 15 minutes after the accident and rushed to Reading Hospital, where was pronounced dead at 5:30 p.m.

However, Vidya was trapped under the bridge pillar due to the strong current and was not found by rescue dive teams until 7:30 p.m., when she was pronounced dead at the scene.

"Once our rescue personnel got there, we couldn't see the mother," Kulp said. "The divers had to use an underwater thermal imaging camera to locate her."

According to Rodney Lombardo, assistant captain of the Reading Scuba team, the current was so strong that the rescuers had to tie a line to Vidya's feet so that the rescuers wouldn't lose her. Lombardo said Vidya was not wearing a life jacket when her body was found.

Berks County Acting Coroner Michael Feeney ruled that drowning was the cause of both deaths.

"It's a dangerous area within 15 or 20 feet of the bridge," Kulp said.

While the stretch of the river is tricky, Reinhart said, this was the first fatality in recent memory.

"There have been minor incidents in the area, but no one had ever been seriously hurt," Reinhart said.

The investigation has been transferred from local police to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

"The investigation is still ongoing," spokesman Dan Tredinnick said. "We haven't reached any conclusions."

The deaths mark are the 12th and 13th canoe fatalities in Pennsylvania this year. According to the Fish and Boat Commission, the majority of fatalities are drownings.

"The accident was a prototypical Pennsylvania boating fatality," Tredinnick said.

Tredinnick added that though boating is generally a safe activity, there are risks involved.

"It was a darn shame that the canoe got so close to the pillar," Kulp said.

According to a Wharton statement, the school "is deeply saddened by the terrible loss suffered by Professor Krishnan Anand with the passing of his wife and daughter."

"He appreciates the public's concern, but the family has asked for privacy in their time of grief," the statement, issued by Wharton spokesman Mike Baltes, said.

Krishnan is currently in the process of returning to his native India to make funeral arrangements for his wife and daughter.

Krishnan, who received his doctorate from Stanford University in 1998, came to Penn in 2000. He previously taught at Northwestern University.

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