The judicial commission that probed the Thekkady boat tragedy has found that a defective boat, overloading and an inexperienced driver had combined to cause the accident that claimed 45 lives in the Thekkady reservoir.

Retired judge E. Moideen Kunju said in his report submitted to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy here on Thursday that the boat which met with the accident on September 30, 2009, lacked stability.

The Commission held the higher officials of the Tourism Department and Kerala State Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) and others responsible for various omissions and commissions that caused the tragedy. It was also overloaded at the time of the accident. The driver did not have the required qualification.