Amaravati: The toll in the tourist boat accident in River Godavari in Andhra Pradesh mounted to 28, Tuesday with the recovery of 16 bodies, while 18 others feared drowned were yet to be traced.
The post-mortem has been conducted on 27 bodies and they were handed over to their relatives, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) said in a release issued Tuesday night. The SDMA said the ill-fated private boat was carrying 73 passengers, including eight crew members.
Of the total, 27 survived the tragedy and were admitted to hospital for treatment of wounds and also trauma counselling.
The SDMA said two teams of NDRF, three of SDRF and one deep divers team of the Indian Navy were engaged in the search operation. An Uttarakhand SDRF team of specialist deep divers carrying side-scan sonar equipment was also helping in searching for the missing persons.
Andhra Pradesh DGP Gautam Sawang conducted an aerial survey Tuesday afternoon of the boat capsize area at Kachhuluru and later visited the victims undergoing treatment in the government hospital at Rajamahendravaram.
PTI