Five students drown in river Krishna

Vijayawada, Aug 16 (PTI) Five undergraduate studentsfrom Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh met with watery gravein the Krishna river this afternoon. The incident occurred at a ghat in Guntur district,police said. The deceased students belonged to Nandigama andChandarlapadu mandals of Krishna district and were B Com finalyear students at Chaitanya College in Nandigama. A group of 11 students had hired a boat at Chandarlapaduand sailed to Digudu ghat near Amaravati in neighbouringGuntur district. This being the ‘Pushkaram’ festival time, they gotdown into the river for a dip without realising that the riverwas very deep at that spot. While five of them drowned, othersmanaged to swim to the river bank. Initial reports suggested that the boat capsized,leading to the tragedy, but subsequent investigation revealedthe students themselves had got into the river for a dip. "We have erected warning boards indicating that the riveris very deep in the area but they seemed to have ignoredthat," Krishna district Superintendent of Police Vijaya Kumarsaid. YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy expressedshock and grief over the incident. PTI DBV KRK SRYBAS