Three agriculture workers accidentally fell into the Krishna river on Saturday and are feared to have drowned.
The workers, Meesala Narasimha Rao (29), Mariboina Gopala Rao (27) and Malla Ramana (35), were natives of Ramannapet village in Krishna district.
According to Krishna district superintendent of police G. Vijay Kumar, the three men were crossing the river on a ballakattu (a barge) from Putlagudem village in Guntur district to Ramannapet village when the accident occurred.
When the vessel was in mid-river, Gopala Rao, Narasimha Rao and Ramana, who were sitting on the edge, fell overboard.
On noticing the incident, other villagers raised alarm and tried in vain to save them.
“Police and villagers searched for the bodies till Saturday evening, but did not find the men. We are trying to find out on how many people were travelling on the vessel, why life jackets were not provided to the passengers,” said Chandarlapadu sub-inspector K. Durga Prasada Rao.
“The mishap occurred around 5.15 p.m. and the victims were returning after attending to farm work in Guntur district,” said the Chandarlapadu police.
On noticing the incident, villagers raise alarm and tried in vain to save them.
