At least 12 people drowned while several others are missing after a tourist boat with around 60 people on board capsized in the swollen Godavari River in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. Seventeen people have been rescued so far.
The accident took place near Kacchuluru village in Devipatnam Mandal. The boat, Royal Vasishta, belonging to a private operator, was on its way to the picturesque Papikondalu tourist spot in the middle of the river when it met with the accident, apparently on colliding with a large rock formation, reported PTI.
According to reports, most of the tourists in the boat were from Hyderabad and Warangal in neighbouring Telangana.
Two teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force have reached the spot for rescue operations. A special helicopter has also been pressed into service from Rajamahendravaram.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has ordered a probe into the accident and announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of the deceased.
The chief minister also directed the officials to suspend all boating services immediately in the region.
Extremely pained by the capsizing of a boat in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. Rescue operations are currently underway at the site of the tragedy.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 15, 2019
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish at the incident. "Extremely pained by the capsizing of a boat in Andhra Pradesh's East Godavari. My thoughts are with the bereaved families," Modi wrote on Twitter.
The river has been in spate for the past few days and over 5.13 lakh cusecs of floodwater was flowing on Sunday afternoon when the mishap occurred.
