Andhra boat tragedy: 19 bodies retrieved

DEVIPATNAM: Bodies of 19 of the 22 persons, who perished when a boat carrying 44 passengers capsized in the Godavari River on Tuesday, were retrieved on Wednesday. The boat belonging to Lakshmi Venkateshwara Boat Service was on its way to Kondamodalu in East Godavari from Polavaram in West Godavari. Heavy winds caused the mishap around 6pm on Tuesday near Manturu village, 18km from the mandal headquarters of Devipatnam.
While 22 passengers swam to safety, the remaining perished as the boat, which was also carrying cement bags and two-wheelers, sank due to inclement weather.

Owner Khaja swam to safety, crane used to retrieve boat

Boat owner Khaja was among those who swam to safety. Incidentally, his boat did not have a valid licence. He later surrendered to the police.

Rescue operation that was launched immediately did not yield much result on Tuesday night due to adverse weather and darkness. On Wednesday, teams of Indian Navy and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) brought a JCB from the nearby Polavaram project site but could not pull out the wreckage of the boat from the river. Finally, a big crane was pressed into service and the damaged boat was brought up.

The death toll rose as passengers who were inside the boat could not come out.

The rescue teams had to cut up a part of the boat to bring out the bodies. By the evening, 19 bodies were retrieved. A temporary mortuary was set up on the riverside and postmortem examination conducted by doctors. After autopsy, the bodies were handed over to their relatives.

Naval diving teams of the Eastern Naval Command were airlifted from Vizag to Rajahmundry around 11pm on Tuesday for the rescue operation. Three naval helicopters with additional diving teams and a Dornier aircraft with technical and air traffic control crew also got airborne early on Wednesday morning. Apart from the Navy, two NDRF teams from Vizag and Vijayawada and six scuba divers were pressed into action. Members of the state disaster management also took part in the operation.