Visakhapatnam: Tragedy struck two groups of holidaymakers, one from Hyderabad and another from Odisha, when four of them drowned in the sea near RK Beach here Sunday afternoon.
Three Town circle inspector K. Rama Rao, who was supervising search operations at the site, said two bodies were washed ashore and police was looking for the remaining two persons. The bodies were identified as Chandrik Shiva, 25, of Hyderabad and Sumitra Tripathy of Cuttack.
He said the Odisha girl drowned near YMCA beach while the boys from Hyderabad’s Begumpet, drowned at RK Beach.
He said that an eight-member group came from Hyderabad and went to RK Beach for picnicking, including Siva, and Mohammed Aziz, 21, who is missing.
Around 20,000 people were seen at the RK Beach from afternoon onwards. Though there were community guards, the crowd was too big to warn them of the dangers of swimming, a local vendor said.
A strong current dragged many of them, who went deeper into the water. Few could swim ashore and some were saved by community guards, while these four persons were drawn into deep waters.
"The rip current was strong and the life guards advised people not to venture beyond knee-deep waters. But their excitement took them inside the waters,’’ Rama Rao said.
Billboards warning people not to swim in the sea are put up in many areas of the beach.
