Vijayawada: A weekend trip turned tragic for a group of six youths from Vijayawada who had travelled to Maredumilli, a popular hill station in Alluri Sitaramaraju district, on Saturday. Two members of the group were swept away in the Pamuleru stream. They are missing despite ongoing rescue efforts.The group had reached Maredumilli in a private car. They were in the water when two from the group, identified as Katakam Ravi Teja (30) and Saadish (23), accidentally slipped into the deeper part of the stream and drowned.Ravi, who worked as a driver, is a married man and father of two daughters. Saadish, a photographer by profession, was unmarried. The remaining members of the group—Katakam Swaroop, Venkatesh, Madasu Ravi, and Madhu, are also photographers. After the incident, the rushed back to Maredumilli and alerted the police.Local authorities, led by Maredumilli tahsildar Balaji and circle inspector Ch Gopalakrishna, mobilised a team including Gurthedu sub-inspector Parthasarathy to the site. A search operation was launched immediately, but heavy rains in the region since Saturday afternoon hampered the rescue efforts.To prevent the possibility of the missing individuals being washed away downstream, officials tied a safety net to a fallen tree across the stream. Despite the precautions and continuous efforts by the police and revenue officials, the two young men remain untraced.Police have notified the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and a specialised team is en route to support the ongoing search and rescue operation.
