Five students, who went for a swim in the Krishna river near Yanamalakuduru in Andhra Pradesh, were washed away on Friday, December 16. The local police and revenue officials have retrieved two bodies from the river. The boys were identified as Munna, Shaik Baji, Hussain, Balu and Kamesh and were aged between 12 and 15. They were all studying in a government school. According to the villagers, the boys were all natives of Darsipeta, in Patamatalanka of Vijayawada.

According to The Hindu, the incident took place around 2 pm on Friday when the students went for a swim. Six students had gone into the water and when the boys shouted for help, the villagers were able to rescue one of them named Kasim Vali. On receiving information from the villagers about the incident, local swimmers, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the police rushed to the spot and began their search operations. The rescue team was able to recover bodies of two students – Munna and Kamesh. The search for the remaining bodies is ongoing.

Kasim Vali, the survivor, spoke to The Hindu and said that six of them had gone into the river for a swim. He added that the seventh person, who was on the shore, heard their cries for help and raised an alarm. He further said that it was the local fishermen who saved him.

In a similar incident in January this year, five students had drowned in the Krishna river while bathing. The deceased students were identified as Ajay (12), Charan (13), Balayesu (12), Rakesh (12) and Sunny (12), and were from Yeturu village in Krishna district. They were all Class 7 students in a government school. The students were home for Sankranti holidays and had gone to the river for a swim in the afternoon while their parents went to work in agricultural fields.