Vietnam boat tragedy: Mortal remains of three AP victims brought home

The mortal remains of three Andhra Pradesh residents who died in the Vietnam boat tragedy arrived in Hyderabad after statutory formalities. State Minister Kondapalli Srinivas received the bodies as the government continued efforts to support the bereaved families and provide ex gratia assistance

Hyderabad: The mortal remains of three Andhra Pradesh residents who died in the boat tragedy in Vietnam arrived here on Tuesday morning.

The bodies of Ravi Teja from Hindupuram, Mudiyam Sreedhar of Kadapa district and Gelli Jaya Lakshmi of Machilipatnam in Krishna district reached the RGI Airport here after the necessary statutory formalities were completed in Mumbai.

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The caskets initially arrived at the Mumbai international airport on a Vietnam Airlines flight from Ho Chi Minh City at 9.30 pm on July 13.

Andhra Pradesh MSME Minister Kondapalli Srinivas was at the Hyderabad airport to supervise the arrangements for receiving the mortal remains and to console the family members of the deceased who came to collect the bodies.

“It is a very sad and tragic incident. We have close to 16 people who have lost their lives, and from Andhra Pradesh, we have three victims. (Andhra Pradesh Education) Minister Nara Lokesh has been closely monitoring the situation,” he said.

Lokesh spoke to officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Vietnam, he said.

The Andhra Pradesh government also coordinated with the Telugu Association in Vietnam, Srinivas said.

The Andhra Pradesh Non Resident Telugu Society (NRTS) helps people in need in foreign countries whenever any issue, including tragedies, occurs, the minister said, adding that the government is working on extending ex gratia to the kin of the deceased.

The Collectors of the concerned districts have deputed senior officers to accompany the ambulances during the onward journey.

According to Vietnamese media reports, 15 Indian tourists were killed in the accident on Saturday.

Of the 15 victims, 10 were from Tamil Nadu, three were from Andhra Pradesh and two were from Kerala.

The speedboat was carrying 32 Indian tourists and four crew members when it capsized about 400 metres off Hon May Rut Ngoai, an island in the An Thoi archipelago off the coast of Phu Quoc, according to Vietnamese news portal VN Express International.

Earlier, 20 tourists from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana who survived the boat tragedy arrived in Hyderabad on a flight late on Sunday after being repatriated from Vietnam.