Amaravati: Rescue operations resumed early on Monday morning after at least eight people drowned and over 30 were missing after a boat carrying them to a tourist spot capsized in the swollen River Godavari in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.
The boat was carrying around 70 people, including nine-member crew, and 26 of them were rescued, while search is on for others.
Eight bodies have been retrieved so far.
Rescue operations resumed at 5:45 am today with two helicopters and eight boats. Gates of the Dowleswaram barrage have also been closed down.
According to reports, the NDRF, SDRF, and Navy personnel swung into action today morning. The rescue operations are being carried out in cooperation with the local fishermen.
The boat, belonging to a private operator, was on its way to the picturesque Papikondalu tourist spot in the middle of the river when it met with the accident, apparently on colliding with a large rock formation, at Kachchuluru in East Godavari District.
River Godavari has been in spate for the past few days and over 5.13 lakh cusecs of floodwater was flowing on Sunday when the mishap occurred.
Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy directed the East Godavari district Collector Muralidhar Reddy to conduct a probe into the tragedy.
He also directed that all boat operations be suspended forthwith, reports said.
Most of the tourists in the boat were from Hyderabad and Warangal in neighbouring Telangana.