GUNTUR: A jolly trip by a group of friends turned tragic when three of them drowned and as many others went missing in the sea at Suryalanka beach in Bapatla district on Tuesday. Marine police said a group of eight boys, aged 13-17 from Singh Nagar in Vijayawada, arrived at the beach in the morning. Seven of them entered the sea, while one remained on the beach.
Police said a sudden, strong wave dragged all seven into the sea. On being alerted, the marine police launched a rescue operation, and plucked one of the boys, Vasantha Parishudda, safely out of the water.
The bodies of Sthambhala Kailash, Chintala Siddhu and Geddam Abhi were recovered later.
Civil and marine police wings, and local fishermen were still searching for the missing three -- Phani, Raghava and Dasu -- at the time of filing this report. The boys were not accompanied by adults. Bapatla Superintendent of Police Vakul Jindal visited the beach and supervised the search operation. He said the beach has been receiving a large number of visitors due to Dasara holidays. The officer requested the visitors not to venture into the sea without supervision.
MISSING LIFEGUARDS
After frequent incidents of drowning in June, the district administration had deployed 10 expert swimmers as lifeguards on the beach. They, however, have not been attending duty, reportedly after they were not paid their monthly wages.