Devotees caught unawares in sudden surge of water
Representational image
KAKINADA/BUTTAYIGUDEM/JANGAREDDYGUDEM: Five persons drowned and another was washed away in a swollen hill stream near Kamav-aram and Vepulapadu villages in Buttayi-gudem mandal in West Godavari district on Sunday, as heavy rains lashed East and West Godavari districts. Ano-ther five persons were injured. When the devotees were offering prayers at the Gubbala Mangamma temple in the stream, a sudden surge of water caught them unawares. Five devotees belonging to one family in Krishna district died and another woman is still missing.
Locals in the vicinity of the temple rescued nine persons, out of which five were injured. They were admitted to the area hospital at Jangareddygudem. Some of the survivors were pushed to the shore by the water while some others got entangled in bushes and were rescued by locals. Five devotees were smashed against rocks in the stream and were injured. “The incident occurred at about 7.30 am. Six persons have drowned. The police, the temple committee members and the local people rescued the others,” Jangareddyg-udem DSP J. Venkat Rao said. The deity in the Gubbala Mangamma temple is shaped like a snake on a big rock and is famous in the area. Thousands of devotees visit the temple on Sundays and holidays.
Among the people were 24 members of a family from Gollagudem and Vijayawada and another 24 devotees were from another family of Annavarappadu village, Peravali mandal in West Godavari district. Some of the family members were on the shore and others went into the temple when the water struck and washed them away, said a committee member of the temple.
The victims have been identified as Uppalapati Deepak Sai, 15, of Gollagudem; Akula Kalyani, 35, of Singhnagar, Vijayawada; Mareedu Saraswathi, 62, of Patamatalanka in Vijayawada; Yenugula Madhavi, 22, of Dondapadu in Gudivada mandal and Vemula Lokesh, 13, of Machavaram village, all in Krishna district.
Lokesh’s mother Vemula Umadevi, 35, is missing. The police said a search operation had been mounted for her. The injured were identified as Yandrapalli Anand, 4, his parents Sirisha, 23, and Prasad, 25, Yenugula Mangamma, 65, of Machavaram and Mallavarapu Durga of Palivela village in Kothapet mandal in East Godavari district.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
Next Story
