Diwali day tragedy: Four friends celebrating birthday drown in Godavari river in Mulugu, bodies retrieved

MULUGU: A tragic incident unfolded on the day of Diwali in Mulugu district when four youths' swimming session in the Godavari river turned deadly on Saturday evening, while celebrating a friend's birthday.

While the bodies of two persons were retrieved on Saturday itself, the rest were retrieved on Sunday morning. 

The four deceased have been identified as Rayavarapu Prakash (19), Tumma Karthik(19), K Anvesh(20) and S Srikanth (20).

The incident occurred near the Rangarajapuram Colony of Venkatapuram village in Mulugu.

According to the police, a group of 16 friends went to the bank of the river to celebrate birthday of one Sashi Kumar. The location where they celebrated is 3km away from Venkatapouram. 

Four of the 16 persons, swam in the Godavari river during the birthay party and drowned.

The rest of the youth informed the villagers and local police about the incident.

Venkatapuram Inspector, K Shiva Prasad and Sub-inspector(SI), H Tirupathi along with other police personnel reached the location but their efforts to rescue the persons went in vain.

With the help of swimmers and fishermen they set nets to retrieve the bodies. 

Speaking to Express, Inspector K Shiva Prasad said that the four youth who entered the river had underesimated its depth at the location as there is an old sand ramp present at that location increasing depth of the river there. 

The four retrieved bodies have been shifted to Venkatapuram Primary Health Center for autopsy. A case has been registered, said Prasad.