KAKINADA: Tragedy struck on Monday evening when eight teenagers went missing in the Godavari river near Kaminilanka village under Mummidivaram police limits. The group had arrived at Serilanka village in K. Gangavaram mandal to attend a function hosted by a friend.
According to Amalapuram DSP T.S.R.K. Prasad, 11 teenagers from Kakinada had come to attend the event. After the function, they ventured to the Godavari river near Kaminilanka. Spotting sandbanks in the river, the boys walked into the water. One of them reportedly got pulled into a deep spot, and in an attempt to rescue him, the others followed, only to be swept away. Three boys managed to escape and alerted the villagers.
NDRF teams and local police are using engine boats to trace the missing. Joint collector T. Nishanthi and RDO Madhavi K. Madhavi are overseeing rescue and support efforts.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan expressed shock over the incident. The CM instructed the Collector to expedite rescue operations and provide real-time updates to families. He also directed officials to install caution boards at high-risk water bodies across the state and warned of strict action if safety measures were found lacking.
The missing have been identified as Kranthi Manuel, 19, Paul, 18, Nithesh, 18, Sai, 18 of Kakinada, Rohith, 18 of Mandapeta, Elipe Mahesh, 14, Vaddi Mahesh, 18, and Vaddi Rajesh, 16 of Serilanka.