RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: Five youths drowned at the Tadipudi bathing ghat in Tallapudi mandal of East Godavari district when they ventured into the Godavari river to take a holy dip on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri.
According to the police, a group of 12 youths of Tadipudi village went to the bathing ghat to take a holy dip. They ventured deep into the river unaware of the depth at that place. Five youths were washed away by the strong currents, others managed to return safely to the bank. The deceased were identified as Garre Akash (19), Thirumalasetti Pavan (19), Padala Sai (18), Padala Rama Durga Prasad (19) and Anisetti Pavan Ganesh (18). The victims were studying in junior colleges in Tallapudi, Kovvur and Rajamahendravaram.
The survived youths are identified as Ganta Raja Narendra, K Sai Venkatata Vinay Teja, Garre Harsha Vardhan, Padala Mallikarjuna Swamy, Garre Durga Prasad, Akula Sai Rajesh and Teku Anji.
The tragic incident shocked the district administration, and the people of East and West Godavari.
Durgesh assures govt support to kin of victims
Having learnt about the drowning incident, East Godavari district SP D Narasimha Kishore and DSP Dev Kumar rushed to Tadipudi and oversaw the search operations. When the tragic incident took place at 8 am, the divers traced the bodies around 12 pm. The retrieved bodies were shifted to Kovvur government hospital for postmortem.
Tourism Minister Kandula Durgesh visited the hospital and condoled the kin of the victims. He said all the necessary support would be extended to the bereaved families after taking the matter to the notice of Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan.
4 drown in two separate incidents in Eluru district
Two brothers drowned in the Tammilleru at Munipalli village in Pedavegi mandal of Eluru district. According to the police, P Munaiah (25) and Urali (22) of Timmakkapalem village in Lingampalem mandal had gone to the canal to do Pindapradanam on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri, and drowned. Upon receiving information, NDRF personnel rushed to the spot, and retrieved the bodies.
In another incident, two persons drowned in a tank at Vatluru village near Eluru. The deceased were identified as Jujjavarapu Venkateswara Rao and Jujjavarapu Koteswara Rao. Eluru III Town police said the duo went to the tank for a bath, but got trapped in quicksand.
Father-son duo meets watery grave at Patalaganga
A man and his son drowned in the Krishna river while taking a holy dip near Patalaganga of Srisailam temple. The deceased were identified as Guruvaiah (35) and his son Vasu (11) of Kolikkikolla village in Penuganchiprolu mandal of NTR district. In an attempt to save Vasu, who was swept away by the water current, Guravaiah also drowned, police said.