Two college students were killed and three others are feared drowned in the Krishna river at Gidugu village, about 50 kms from Amaravati in Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh.
The students have been identified as Nagesh, Harish, Lokesh, Gopi Reddy and Hari Gopi—doing their graduation in a private college in Nandigama of Krishna district. Two bodies have been fished out. Expert swimmers and motorboats have been engaged in rescue operations.
They had decided to swim upto Amaravati from Nandigama as the water is shallow. However, the water level had gone up due to water release from Pulichinthala (K.L.Rao Sagar multipurpose irrigation project) for the Pushkaram celebrations. The recent sand mining too had caused the water level to go up. Sand mining has been a cause for concern near all river beds in the area.
The students were caught unawares about the depth of the river when they reached the middle.