Andhra University student goes missing off Vizag's RK Beach

A student from Andhra University in Visakhapatnam went missing from the city's RK Beach on Saturday morning even as his friend was rescued by locals, when the duo ventured into the water. The student has been identified as B Nilesh, who was pursuing the first year of his Civil Engineering course.

According to media reports, Nilesh was part of a group of 11 engineering students who had visited the beach to play Kabbadi in the sand and had stepped into the water to wash their hands and feet. However, a big wave made them slip and pulled them into deeper water. 

While the Coast Guard Police have launched a search operation with the help of local fishermen, the eye witnesses who were present said that there were no lifeguards at the beach, during the time of the incident.  

The latest tragedy comes a week after two young men in Andhra Pradesh, who were students of a private engineering college drowned in Visakhapatnam after they ventured deep into the water at the city's Rushikonda beach.

The local police said that a group of five students had landed up at the beach last Sunday and had ventured into the tall waves, despite warnings from authorities on the shore. 

As the water current was strong, two of them were pulled into the water, while the remaining three were rescued by the Coastal Security Police (CSP). The rescued persons were later shifted to a government hospital in the city.

While the city police and the Greater Visakha Municipal Corporation (GVMC) have been taking steps to prevent such incidents by hiring community guards, drowning deaths continue to be reported.

Besides warning people not to wade deep into the water during rough seas, the police said that another problem that they faced was the need of young adults to take selfies close to the water, which sometimes put their own life in danger.