20 feared dead in East Godavari boat mishap

Rajamahendravaram/Kakinada: In yet another boat tragedy, about 20 passengers who were travelling in a launch are feared washed away when it capsized in Godavari river on Tuesday evening at Manturu in Devipatnam mandal of the district. The officials, however, confirmed 12 deaths and said efforts were on to rescue those who were washed away.

Only a few days ago, several passengers of a tourist boat had a close shave with death when their boat caught fire almost at the same area on the river but all of them could reach to safety before the flames engulfed he boat.

On Tuesday, the launch set off from Devipatnam with about 45 passengers of whom about 20 alighted at Manturu.  As soon as the launch resumed its journey, the hailstorm hit it with vicious force, rocking the launch on the waters. A few youth could jump into the waters and swim ashore even as the boat overturned and sank.

The owner of the launch Khajavali surrendered before the Devipatnam police. According to official sources, there were about 20 passengers were there in the launch when the mishap occurred.  East Godavari District Superintendent of Police Vishal Gunni rushed to the spot to supervise rescue operations.

The state government pressed two National Disaster Response Force teams into service for the rescue of the victims. Each team consists of 35 expert members and the teams would reach the mishap spot soon. One team was pressed into service from Vijayawada while the other was rushed from Visakhapatnam. They used 22 boats to look for survivors and as it was night time, they were not making much progress, when reports last came in.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, after returning to Amaravati from Srikakulam inquired about the incident and asked the officials to ensure that all necessary help is handed out to the survivors. He was informed that all the passengers were from Manturu, Talluru and Kadkuru. On Naidu’s instruction, East Godavari collector Karhtikeya Misra rushed to the spot.