Rajamundry: 38 days…a number of failed trails to extract the boat and eyes that waited for the bodies of their loved ones…all ended while the Dharmadi team successfully retrieved the ‘Royal Vasishta Punnami’ tourist boat on Tuesday. A special team of 40 professional fishermen and divers from Kakinada and Visakhapatnam ports reached to Kachuluru mandyam two days ago carrying out the excavation operation. While 15 bodies went missing, information is that the team found around 5 bodies which are decomposed beyond recognition. With the decrease in the flow, Captain Aadhi Narayana and his team members have kickstarted the operation, successfully drawing out the vessel which was in a devastating condition with unbearable stink. The scuba divers have stated that the front part of the boat was at the depth of 35 feet and the rearpart was at 70 feet depth. The Andhra Pradesh government had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the bereaved families.
