11 drowned, 4 missing in State

Maha Sivaratri *Five students drowned in Khammam district *Three engineering students, one 2-year-old go under in East Godavari * Two children meet watery grave in Krishna Eleven people drowned and another four people went missing while taking a holy dip in rivers and rivulets at different places in the State on Sunday during the Maha Sivaratri festivities.A In Khammam district, five students drowned in the Godavari River at Chintiryala in Aswapuram mandal, about 250 km from Khammam town. A group of students had gone there for a holy bath. They were aged between 7 and 18 years. In Kamalapuram in Mangapet mandal in Warangal district, a Class IX student Md Yaqub Pasha was reported missing in Godavari. He went along with three of his friends. They drowned while crossing the river; locals managed to save all but him. A search is on. On receipt of news, police immediately swung into action and took up search and rescue operations. By afternoon, the bodies of the students were retrieved from the river. The deceased were identified as Saleem (14), Ravulapalli Chanti (18), Mohd. Tajuddin (10), Surya Teja (10) and Pavan (12). In East Godavari district, three engineering students drowned in Pamuleru rivulet in Maredu mandal in the agency area. They were identified as Muthyala Durga Prasad of Dosakayalapalli, Boddu Manikhanta and Padamati Ganesh of Ganugagudem. According to police, nine students of Sriprakash Education Institutions in Rajahmundry went to take a holy dip in Pamuleru. Three of them drowned as they swam deep into the rivulet. The Maredumalli police launched a search operation in the rivulet and retrieved three bodies. One person, who had gone into Tandava river near Tuni was swept away by a strong current. The police launched a search and rescue operation in the river with the help of expert swimmers. A person was reported missing at Kotipalli; he was taking a dip in Godavari. Another person identified as Anil and working for HPCL at Visakhapatnam had gone missing after he went to Godavari for a holy dip at Sivakodu village near Razole. Anju Kumar Mohan (2) of Madhupudi village in East Godavari drowned in Godavari near Pattiseema while taking a holy dip. In Krishna district, two children drowned in the Katleru rivulet on Sunday during the Mahashivaratri celebrations. Janapati Prasanna (15) and her younger brother Murali (13) slipped and fell in a rivulet at Gampalagudem as their parents Venkateswarlu and Eswar- amma, hailing from Gampalagudem, watched in horror. They could not be rescued. Their bodies were later fished out by local fishermen.