Boat tragedy: Toll rises to 34; Search continues for 13 more

Six more bodies of those killed in the boat accident in river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh were retrieved on Wednesday, taking the toll to 34, with 13 more people still reported missing.

Of the 34 deceased, as many as 23 were men, eight women and three children, the State Disaster Management Authority said in its latest situation report.

The boat was carrying 73 people, including eight crew, to a tourist spot when it capsized in the swollen river on Sunday afternoon. A total of 26 passengers survived the tragedy.

Two experts from Marine Masters Company, Mumbai, have been engaged to retrieve the ill-fated boat that was found stuck at a depth of 210 feet in the river at the accident spot at Kachhuluru in East Godavari district, about 200 km from here, the SDMA said.

The missing persons are feared trapped inside the sunk boat.

Expert divers from the Indian Navy, specialist deep divers from Uttarakhand, National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force and Fire Services personnel of the state government were engaged in the search operation.

The SDMA said post-mortem had been completed on all 34 bodies and they were handed over to the relatives.

The boat 'Royal Vasishta' 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.