Two persons were killed and another went missing when a tourist boat overturned in a reservoir in Andhra Pradesh's Nandyal district on Sunday, May 14. Eleven others travelling in the boat in Avuku reservoir were rescued. The deceased were identified as Noor Jahan (40) and Asia (23), residents of Koilkuntla town in Nandyal district. Noor Jahan was working as an Urdu teacher in a municipal high school in Nandyal while Asia was a student of MSc (Agriculture) at Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. Sajida, who went missing, had recently attempted the NEET exam.
Fourteen family members of head constable Rasool Basha had gone to the lake after attending a wedding on Sunday, and boarded a rented tourist boat. Water entered the boat when it had covered a distance of about half a kilometre in the reservoir. Boat driver Gangaraju reportedly tried to take it back to the jetty but it overturned.
Basha's niece Asia died due to drowning while his daughter Sajida went missing. Basha's sister-in-law Noor Jahan succumbed while being shifted to the hospital. Others survived by holding on to the boat. Police rescued them with the help of another boat. Divers were searching for the missing woman.
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Sakshi, the state tourism department has issued a statement saying the boat was not operated by them, and that the boat owner had failed to renew its licence.
About three-and-a-half years ago, in September 2019, fifty-one people were killed when a private tourist boat named Royal Vasishta capsized in the Godavari river. The boat owner and operator were arrested for operating the vessel despite a ban due to floods.