Hyderabad survivor says boatman seemed inexperienced

DEVIPATNAM (EAST GODAVARI): A lucky survivor when Royal Vasishta sunk in the Godavari blamed the ‘inexperienced’ driver of the boat for the tragedy.
Mohammed Talib Patel, a fitness trainer in a gym at Tolichowki in Hyderabad, was in the boat along with his colleagues, E Sai Kumar and Mazhar Uddin.

Kumar and Uddin are yet to be traced. Patel was rescued by the locals as the boat was going down.Patel said he had taken selfies with the boat driver before tragedy struck.
Patel told TOI that he, Sai Kumar and Uddin had come to Rajahmundry in a car to attend a private function. On Sunday morning, they went for a boat ride along Papikondalu. They boarded the boat at 11 am.
“Around 1.30pm, I noticed that something was going wrong in the boat. We had taken photos inside the boat and even taken selfies with the boat driver. Soon after, the boat began to sink and I jumped from the boat,” Patel said.
“The boat driver was the main reason for the tragedy. He looked like an inexperienced man,” said Patel showing a few of the photos and selfies taken with his missing friends. The boat driver, too, is seen in the photos. Sai Kumar’s brother-in-law, who came from Hyderabad, said it was the first outing for him. “His mother and sister back home are inconsolable,” he said.