At least 12 people dead, around 30 missing in AP boat mishap

TIL Desk/National/Hyderabad/ At least 12 people drowned and around 30 were missing after a boat carrying them to a tourist spot capsized in the swollen River Godavari in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday, police said. The boat was carrying around 60 people, including nine-member crew, and 17 of them were rescued by the locals while search was on for others.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed anguish over the tragedy. Extremely pained by the capsizing of a boat in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari. My thoughts are with the bereaved families,” the prime minister wrote on Twitter. He said rescue operations are currently underway at the site of the tragedy.

Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed shock over the mishap and announced an ex gratia relief of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of the deceased. The boat, 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, at Kachchuluru in East Godavari District, about 200 km from Amaravati, they said.