Pavitra Sangamam, the holy confluence of the Krishna and the Godavari, where a magnificent harathi is a daily offering to the river, witnessed its worst moment on Sunday.
A tourist boat with about 38 persons on board capsized as visitors helplessly watched it from the ghat.
The death toll was 16 and five more were missing when reports came in last at 10.30 p.m.. The authorities said the rescue operation would continue till the last person was traced.
The incident took place around 5.20 p.m., a few metres away from the floating deck of the harathi and the confluence point. It was the crew of another tourist boat, local boatmen and fishermen who jumped to the rescue of the victims even before the authorities received the information. Later, the NDRF 10th Battalion and the police forces took over the rescue operations.
“My relatives have come to the city on a holiday. It has been several hours since the mishap occurred and there is no clue about them,” said Balaji whose tension mounted every time he learned that the rescued person was not his relative. The body of one of his three relatives on board was later retrieved, one has been rescued and the other is still missing.
“I was somehow saved by the swimmers here. I am safe now,” seven-year-old Ujwala Sai told her parents over the phone.
“After the incident, we were told that the boat was not in condition and it was its first trip. The owner showed the copy of the agreement made with the tourism department and admitted that the boat was not in a good condition. There were no life jackets for the tourists,” said N. Venkatarao, vice-president of the Ongole Walkers Club. “Thirty of our members boarded the boat while remaining 30 stayed back,” he said.
“Suddenly there was instability in the boat’s movement and by the time we realised what was happening the boat overturned. While some of us fell on the side of the boat others were trapped under it,” said P. Sujatha, a survivor.
The deceased
The deceased have been identified as Rayapati Subramanya (60), Pasupuleti Seetharamaiah (64), K. Anjaneyulu (58), Kovvuri Lalitha (35), Venkateswara Rao (48), Rajesh (49), Hemalatha (49), D. Bharathi (60), A. Kotireddy (45), Prabhakar Reddy (50), Anjamma (55), Vennela Sujatha (40), A. Gurnatharao, K. Koteswararao (40), S. Koteswararao and S. Venkayamma.
Among the rescued are P. Ujwala Sai (7), D. Vijaya Sri (45), Srilakshmi (50), Bhulaksmi (40), V. Kundana (18), Kanta Venkateswarlu (52), Kanta Tulasi (40), Kondragunda Haribabu (56), Kondragunda Suneeta (46), Sai Akshara, R. Subbayamma, B. Venkateswarlu (66), P. Srinivasa Rao (50), D. Sivannarayana (48) and Boddu Lakshmi. They are undergoing treatment in various hospitals. Seven others are still missing.
Meanwhile, locals flocked to the ghat forcing police forces to bring in rope parties to control the crowd. Leaders of various political parties also visited the spot. YSRCP party leaders raised slogans against the Chief Minister and blamed him for the accident.
