Tragedy struck in Tadipudi of Tallapudi mandal from East Godavari district today. Five youths died while taking bath in Godavari river. On the occasion of Mahashivratri, 11 youths went to bathe in the Godavari river in the early hours of the Wednesday morning. Five of them drowned as they did not recognize the deep part of the river. All five lost their lives while trying to save each other.

On receiving the information, the local police reached the spot. Search operations were launched with the help of ace swimmers. The deceased were identified as T. Pawan (17), P. Durga Prasad (19), P. Sai Krishna (19), A. Pawan (19), and G. Akash (19). All of them were students studying Intermediate and degree in Kovvur, Tallapudi, and Rajamahendravaram areas.

The gloom was cast over their village as all the youths belonged to the same village. Kovvur RDO Rani Susmita and DSP Devakumar supervised the search operations.