Boat Accident: Body of third missing girl found

Fishermen from the Neelapalli hamlet near the sea mouth on Tuesday afternoon spotted the body of Sunkara Srija, 14, one of the missing girls of the Saturday’s boat tragedy in the Godavari at Pasuvullanka, and handed over it to the NDRF. With this, the bodies of three victims were retrieved and the search operations were going on for four other girls.

Home Minister N. Chinna Rajappa announced that the search would be continued for two more days by the NDRF and the SDRF and the ex gratia had been increased from 3 lakh to 5 lakh to the minors. “Arrangements are in place to pay the ex gratia to the family members of the three victims by the local elected representatives. We have also decided to replace the old boats with the punt boats to 18 island villages in the district by spending the Corporate Social Responsibility funds,” he said.

The base camp had been shifted from Yanam to Bhairavapalem in Tallarevu mandal of East Godavari district that was close to the sea mouth. Mr. Rajappa, officials and elected representatives reached the new base camp in a motor boat. “All the three bodies were spotted near the sea mouth and the rescue teams felt it is better to shift the camp closer to the sea,” he said, adding the search would be intensified as climate turned conducive.