Vietnam boat tragedy: Mortal remains of 3 Andhra victims to reach Hyderabad, says minister

Amaravati, July 13 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh MSME Minister Kondapalli Srinivas on Monday said the mortal remains of the three Andhra Pradesh tourists who died in the Vietnam boat tragedy were expected to reach Hyderabad on Tuesday morning after completion of statutory formalities in Mumbai. A total of 20 tourists from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana who survived the Vietnam boat tragedy arrived in Hyderabad on a flight late on Sunday after being repatriated from Vietnam. A tourist speedboat carrying 32 Indian tourists, three crew members and an attendant capsized near Hon May Rut Ngoai off Phu Quoc Island on Saturday while returning to An Thoi Port in Vietnam. Fifteen Indian tourists were killed, and 21 others were rescued. "The mortal remains of the three Andhra Pradesh tourists who lost their lives in the Vietnam boat tragedy are expected to arrive in Hyderabad on Tuesday morning after the necessary statutory formalities are completed in Mumbai," said Srinivas in an official press release. According to the Minister, the three Andhra Pradesh victims' mortal remains are tentatively scheduled to be flown from Mumbai by IndiGo flight 6E6362 at 5:45 am on July 14 and are expected to arrive at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at 7:20 am, subject to completion of all statutory clearances. He said the arrangements were made with the intervention of Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu and in consultation with the Embassy of India in Vietnam. The handling agency agreed to transport the three mortal remains to Hyderabad at a consolidated cost of Rs 43,000 per body, including air transportation, said the press release. Srinivas reached Hyderabad airport to supervise the arrangements for receiving the mortal remains. He said the state protocol team would receive the bodies at the airport, while Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu Society (APNRTI) has kept special ambulances ready to transport them to Machilipatnam, Kadapa and Hindupur. District collectors have also deputed senior officers to accompany the ambulances during the onward journey, which is expected to begin around 9 am, it said. Srinivas said Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation General Manager Chandana Nancharaiah travelled to Mumbai to oversee the payments and transhipment arrangements, while district collectors have been asked to keep the bereaved families informed of the revised schedule. The three deceased from Andhra Pradesh have been identified as N Adiseshaiah Ravi Teja from Hindupuram in Sri Satya Sai district, Mudiyam Sreedhar of Kadapa district and Gelli Jaya Lakshmi of Machilipatnam in Krishna district. PTI MS ADB