Vijayawada: Four engineering students were missing after one fell into the Krishna river near here on Saturday and three others tried to rescue him but were also washed away, police said.
The incident occurred at Pavitra Sangamam, the confluence points of Krishna and Godavari rivers, at Ibrahimpatnam.
Five students of second year of a private engineering college had gone there for picnic. When one of them was drowning while taking a bath, three others tried to save him but all of them were washed away in strong currents. The fifth student alerted the police.
The missing students have been identified as Praveen, 18, Chaitanya, 18, Rajkumar, 19, and Srinath, 19. They hail from different parts of Andhra Pradesh.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and divers have joined the rescue operations. A police officer said about 100 personnel were participating in the rescue operations.
Police said one of the students crossed the safety railing, which led to the tragedy.
Krishna District Collector Vijay Krishna and other top officials rushed to the scene. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu directed officials to make all efforts for the rescue operations.
