Eleven people have died and several are missing after a tourist boat capsized in the swollen Godavari river in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday afternoon.
According to NDTV, 63 people were on board the boat, operated by the state tourism board, when it capsized. Authorities said 23 of them had been rescue.
10 of those who were on board swam to safety, officials of the Real Time Governance Society told Hindustan Times.
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Police told HT that 33 people are still missing.
Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of the deceased, ANI reported.
The river has been in spate for the past few days and over 5.13 lakh cusecs of floodwater was flowing on Sunday afternoon when the mishap occurred.
The boat started off for the Papikondalu, a prime tourist destination, from Gandi Pochamma Temple near Devipatnam and it capsized near Kachhuluru, they said.
State Chief Secretary L V Subrahmanyam spoke to East Godavari District Collector Muralidhar Reddy and enquired about the incident.
The Chief Secretary directed that a helicopter be pressed into service to trace the boat mishap victims.