Devipatnam Boat Tragedy: Toll Rises To 33

Amaravati: Toll in the tourist boat accident in river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh mounted to 33 as five more bodies were retrieved on Wednesday, while 13 others were yet to be traced.

However, taking out the boat that sank over 315 feet deep in the river is proving to be a herculean task, police said.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Md Ehsan Raza said that many more could be trapped inside the boat.The search teams found the bodies floating far away from the accident spot at Kachhuluru in East Godavari district.

One body was found near the coffer dam of Polavaram project while another was recovered near new Pattiseema and was identified as that of a person from Hyderabad based on an ID card. One body was found near a crest gate of Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowaleswaram, police said.

Identity of some of the deceased was yet to be established, they said. The bodies have been shifted to the government hospital in Rajamahendravaram.

The post-mortem has been conducted on 28 bodies and they were handed over to their relatives, the State Disaster Management Authority said in a release tonight.

The SDMA said the ill-fated private boat was carrying 73 passengers, including eight crew.Of the total, 27 survived the tragedy and were admitted to hospital for treatment of wounds and also trauma counselling.

It said two teams of NDRF, three of SDRF and one deep divers team of the Indian Navy were engaged in the search operation.

A SDRF team of specialist deep divers from Uttarakhand carrying side-scan sonar equipment was also engaged in the operation.

State Director General of Police Gautam Sawang conducted an aerial survey of the boat capsize area at Kachhuluru on Tuesday afternoon and later visited the victims undergoing treatment in the government hospital at Rajamahendravaram.

The Godavari River has been in spate for the past few days and over 5.13 lakh cusecs of floodwater was flowing on Sunday when the mishap occurred.

The Chief Minister had directed the East Godavari district Collector Muralidhar Reddy to conduct a probe into the tragedy. (With inputs from PTI)

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