Devipatnam boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 34, 13 still missing

The death toll in the Godavari riverboat capsize incident near Kacchuluru village rose to 34 on Wednesday and 13 persons are still missing.

"A boat carrying 73 passengers (including 8 crew team) was capsized in Godavari River. Out of 73 passengers, 26 passengers have been rescued, 34 bodies are retrieved and 13 persons are yet to be traced out," said the State Disaster Management (SDMA) release.

Six fire teams from East and West Godavari Districts, 12 Aska Lights and one Satellite phone are engaged in search and rescue operations. Two National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and three State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have been engaged in rescue operations with all necessary rescue and communication equipment.

One deep diver's team of Indian Navy have also engaged in the rescue operations.

Post mortem has been completed for all the retrieved dead bodies and handed over to relatives.

On Sunday, a tourist boat capsized in the Godavari river. It is believed that the accident took place due to overloading of the boat.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy on September 17 had announced Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia for the bereaved families. He had also directed NDRF, Navy and ONGC helicopters to carry out the rescue operations on war-footing.