Four NCC cadets drown in estuary at Antarvedi
SAKHINETIPALL (EG): Four NCC cadets of Andhra Loyola College in Vijaywada drowned in Godavari river on Tuesday. Sixteen NCC cadets of the college were supposed to return home in the morning after the valedictory of a NCC camp at Narsapur on the other side of the river in West Godavari distict. But they decided to have fun on the beach before leaving the place but their frolic turned tragic.
The four students met a watery grave near the light-house and Annachellagattu, the estuary at Antarvedi. The police are still engaged in retrieving the bodies. Three of them were from Vijayawada _ V Suresh of Governorpeta, BVK Reddy of Prasadampadu and Shaik Riaz _ while the fourth, K Vamsi Krishna, was from Vyyur in Krishna district. They were all aged around 21 years. Two others, Ravi Nagaraja and P Chandra Rao, also drowned but could be rescued and shifted to the government hosptial at Razole.
According to the police, the 16 NCC cadets,one of them a girl, besides an instructor went to Narsapur to participate in the NCC camp conducted at Sri YN College. The camp, attended by 487 NCC cadets from various colleges in Krishna, West Godavari and Warangal districts, commenced on April 24 and came to an end on May 2. 'On Monday night the closing ceremony was organised at the college and the students were supposed to leave for Vijayawada on Tuesday morning,' police said.
But most of them decided to spend some time on the beach and also visit the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Antarvedi where the Godavari merges into the Bay of Bengal. They reached Antarvedi at 7.30 am and went to the beach near the light house. Six of them stood ankle-deep in water but were swept off their feet by a heavy tide. The sea is very deep there. The other 10 students tried to save their friends from drowning but succeeded in rescuing only two.
On receipt of information, NCC colonel P Prabhakar and others went in a speed boat and searched in vain for the bodies. The management of Loyola College and parents of the students were informed of the accident. The search operation was called off at nightfall and will be resumed on Wednesday.
News Posted: 4 May, 2011
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