The death toll in Monday’s drowning incident in Manair river in Sircilla town rose to five with the recovery of four more bodies on Tuesday.
A jolly trip to Manair river turned tragic for five boys of Rajiv Nagar in the textile town after they drowned soon after venturing into the water for swimming late on Monday afternoon.
In all, six boys, five of them students of a local school, hailing from the power loom workers’ families were washed away in the river. The body of Ganesh, 13, was fished out from the check dam site in the river later in the evening the same day.
The search operation launched by the police with the help of swimmers was initially hampered by drizzle on Monday night.
Four more bodies of the missing boys were recovered during the strenuous search operation involving a team of expert swimmers and some local fishermen on Tuesday. The deceased were identified as Venkatasai, 14, Ajay, 13, Rakesh, 12, and Sriram Kranthi Kumar, 14. Search is still on to trace one more missing boy, who was feared drowned.
Two other boys had a miraculous escape from the accident after they dropped the idea of venturing into the river on seeing their friends going down in the river one after another as none of them knew swimming, sources added.
The incident came to light after the fear-stricken boys raised an alarm and rushed back to their homes in panic. Heart-wrenching scenes were witnessed on the banks of Manair river at Nehru Nagar as the grief-stricken parents and family members of the deceased sobbed inconsolably over the tragic death of their loved ones.
Sources said Sriram met a tragic end just a day ahead of his birthday, leaving his family members crestfallen.
Meanwhile, Minister K.T. Rama Rao expressed shock over the drowning incident and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families. He directed the district officials to strengthen safety measures at the water bodies and irrigation projects, and assured all possible help to the bereaved families.
