TIRUPATI: One student died and three others went missing on Friday evening after being swept away by strong currents in the Swarnamukhi River near Vedantapuram village in Tirupati Rural mandal.
Seven students from Agraharam village had gone swimming and playing on the river’s sandbanks when the water level suddenly rose, sweeping away four of them. Locals rescued three youths, while authorities recovered the body of 16-year-old Balu. The remaining missing students are Prakash (17), Chinna (15), and Teju (19).
Tirupati District Collector S Venkateswar expressed deep shock over the incident and immediately alerted all concerned departments. He directed officials to launch urgent rescue and relief operations. Police, revenue, fire services, and NDRF teams have jointly taken up the search along the river stretch.