Five youths and seven students drowned in Godavari at Bhadrachalam during a visit.

 A great tragedy has taken place in Bhadrachalam, Kothagudem district of Bhadradri. Five youths who had come to have darshan of Sri Seetha Ramachandra Swamy, along with their two friends living in Bhadrachalam, went for a bath in the Godavari river, out of which five students went missing. The incident took place in the Veleru area on the outskirts of Bhadrachalam. The details given by the students who came out are as follows. Five youths came to Bhadrachalam to have darshan of Bhadradri Ramaiah. Later, they went to take a bath in the Godavari river in the Veleru area on the outskirts of the city. As the river flow was deep, the five youths were suddenly swept away in the water. The details of the missing have been identified as Satish, Navdeep, Tejagna, Abhiram, and Srikar. The other two youths who were with them escaped safely and provided information.

Ongoing search operations

Bhadrachalam police and fire personnel reached the spot immediately after receiving the information. Search operations were intensified under the leadership of SIs Satish and Shyam Prasad. Fire personnel Kumar, Harish, Satish along with local swimmers are searching for the youths in the river. As the whereabouts of the missing persons are not known at present, the family members and friends of the youths are worried.