16 killed, 9 missing as boat capsizes in Vijayawada

Vijayawada: At least 16 tourists, including seven women, died and nine others were missing when the boat carrying them capsized in Krishna river near Vijayawada on Sunday evening. thirteen people were rescued by local fishermen.

The incident happened around 5 pm at Pavithra Sangam, the spot where Krishna and Godavari rivers meet. The boat was said to be overloaded and soon after reaching Pavitra Sangamam, the tourists were excited to see the lighting and most of them went to one side.

The boat faced some turbulence. At that time the fading light added to the woes and the boat driver seems to have misjudged the depth of water a few metres away from the jetty and took a wrong turn and hit sand bars which possibly resulted in the mishap.

Before they could realise what happened, the boat capsized and there were shouts for the panic-stricken passengers. Local fishermen present at Pavitra Sangamam immediately took up the rescue operations and saved some lives.

According to officials, the boat did not have enough life jackets and when asked for them the boat operators said that it was not necessary, passengers told The Hans India. There were more than 60 passengers and the boat had only 15 life jackets. 

The NDRF teams from Mangalagiri rushed to the spot and began search operations. They recovered 13 bodies, which were immediately shifted to the government hospital for post-mortem. It is feared that nearly 20 passengers could have lost their lives. The NDRF and the fire staff and expert swimmers continued search with the help of flood lights.

Over 60 people from the fire department and other related departments took up the search and rescue operations immediately. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu spoke to the District Collectors and asked them to closely monitor the search and rescue operations.

Ambulances were rushed to the spot with necessary medical facilities. Officials said that the tourists were members of the Ongole Walkers Club and had hired the private boat operated by Simple Water Tours for excursion on the river Krishna on the occasion of Karthika Maasam.

The group had come for a picnic to Vijayawada on Sunday morning from Ongole, 150 km away. After visiting various temples and other sightseeing, they went to Ibrahimpatnam to catch a boat for river cruise at 4 pm. 

According to some passengers, the AP Tourism kiosk told them that they had missed the last boat, so they decided to hire a private boat. The survivors said that they asked for life jackets but the crew told them that there was nothing to worry and did not give them.

One of the survivors, M Harinath of Ongole, said they had come to Vijayawada in two buses on Sunday morning to see Pavitra Harati at Ibrahimpatnam. Among them, 32 tourists boarded a private boat at Bhavani Island in the evening to see Pavitra Sangamam, the holy confluence of Krishna and Godavari rivers. Unfortunately, their boat was capsized killing 14 of them.

The NDRF teams have taken out 14 bodies which include six women and two children.  The Bhavani Island attracts a large number of picnickers in the ongoing Karthika Maasam and Sunday saw a large number of people on board the tourism boat introduced recently.

As per reports, the boat doesn't have permission to operate in the river and that it had come to Pavitra Sangamam for the first time. Leader of Opposition Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and APCC Chief N Raghuveera Reddy expressed shock over the issue. Raghuveera Reddy even visited the site of accident.