Andhra Pradesh boat capsize: Indian Navy conducts search to trace 6 missing people

Six people, five girls and a woman, went missing after a country boat they were travelling in capsized in river Gautami in East Godavari district.

New Delhi: A diving team of Indian Navy on Sunday conducted a search and rescue operation in Andhra Pradesh's East Godavari to trace six people who are still missing after a boat capsized yesterday. 

On Saturday evening, the boat carrying 32 people capsized in the Gautami river after colliding with a pier of a bridge under construction. The AP State Disaster Management Authority said 26 passengers of the boat were rescued but two of them were hospitalised with injuries.

The number of fatalities is yet to be confirmed. 

A 30-member team from the State Disaster Response and Fire Services Department began a search operation at the accident spot using boats and high-powered lamps. A 22-member team of the State Disaster Response Force from Kakinada was also taking part in the operation while NDRF teams from Kakinada and Visakhapatnam were also joining with necessary equipment, the SDMA said.

The boat was en route to Saladivari Palem from Pasuvullanka when the mishap occurred. As the river was in spate, the water was swirling, making the boat movement unstable, a senior official of the State Disaster Management Department here said. It hit a pier of the bridge that is being constructed on the river and capsized. 

Some students in the boat climbed the base of the pier and saved themselves. Fishermen and local villagers besides bridge construction workers rescued about 20 people yesterday.