19 more bodies found in Godavari, toll mounts to 27

The boat, Royal Vashishta, was operating without a licence, according to a government statement on Sunday. It was ferrying passengers from Gandi Pochamma temple near Rajahmundry to the Papikondalu hill range, a popular tourist spot.

The death toll from the capsize of a private sightseeing boat in Andhra Pradesh’s Godavari river near Devipatnam on Sunday went up to 27 as 19 more bodies were recovered on Tuesday while 19 people remained missing, police said.

East Godavari superintendent of police Adnan Nayeem Asmi said 19 people continued to be missing and that they were hopeful of recovering more bodies by late Tuesday. (HT FILE)

The boat, Royal Vashishta, was operating without a licence, according to a government statement on Sunday. It was ferrying passengers from Gandi Pochamma temple near Rajahmundry to the Papikondalu hill range, a popular tourist spot.

East Godavari superintendent of police Adnan Nayeem Asmi said 19 people continued to be missing and that they were hopeful of recovering more bodies by late Tuesday.

NDRF and SDRF teams were pressed into service when the boat with 73 people on board capsized on Sunday. Twenty-six people were rescued while the boat was located using sensors 48 hours after the mishap.

“Over the first two days, only eight bodies were recovered. On Tuesday, 19 more bodies were located,” Asmi said.

Deputy chief minister Pilli Subhash Bose said that a specialised deep divers’ team with equipment from Uttarakhand was pressed into service.