Amaravati, May 27 Eight youths went missing in the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh's Dr B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district on Monday, police said.
The incident occurred near Kaminilanka in Mummidivaram mandal.
A group of 11 youths entered the river to take a bath. As they moved deep into the water, they started drowning. While three youth managed to come out, the remaining were washed away.
The youth hailing from Kakinada, Ramachandrapuram, and Mandapeta had come to attend a wedding at Sherulanka in K. Gangavaram mandal. They later went to the river to take a bath.
Locals said the youth had no knowledge of the depth of water and apparently did not know swimming. They suspect that the youngsters were washed away due to strong current.
Three youths, who managed to reach the banks, raised an alarm and appealed to the locals for help.
The missing youths were identified as Mahesh (Sherulanka), Rohit, Kranti, Sai, Paul, Sai, Satish, and Mahesh (Yerragaruvu). They are all said to be students of Class 10 and Intermediate.
Police rushed to the river and, with the help of locals, launched a search for the missing youths. Officials from the Revenue and other departments also rushed to the spot to assist in the rescue operation.
The rescue team deployed boats for the search. As it was getting dark, their near and dear ones were getting anxious. The rescue workers may have to call off the search after sunset.
Families of the missing youth rushed to the river and made frantic appeals to authorities to rescue them.
Minister for Labour Vasamsetti Subhash said search operation was launched for the missing youth. He directed officials to speed up the search.
Senior district officials were directed to monitor the search operation.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu voiced concern over the incident. He spoke to Konaseema district Collector over phone. The Collector briefed him on the rescue effort.
The Chief Minister asked officials to make every effort to rescue the missing. He also directed them to provide information to their families regularly.
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