Rayagada: A five-year-old boy has gone missing after being swept away in the river Nagavali near the hanging bridge on the outskirts of the district headquarters town of Rayagada.
While four of a family from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh were swept by the strong current in the river, three have been rescued and a five-year-old child remains untraceable. The missing five-year-old has been identified as Amaresh.
Fire Service personnel have launched a search operation to rescue the missing child.
According to reports, eight members of a family from the Eluru district of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh were on a visit to Maa Majhighariani temple.
The family after having a darshan of Rayagada’s presiding deity Maa Majhighariani had gone to the hanging bridge for sightseeing.
After sightseeing, three children of the family stepped into the Nagavali river to take a bath.
The three children were swept away in the strong current of the river.
Two of the children were rescued by the locals present there.
Seeing five-year-old Amaresh being swept away, his father P Gopalkrishna jumped into the river and was pulling him out when he was again swept away by the strong current in the river.
Luckily, Gopalkrishna who was also swept away in the river for about 2km was stuck between two rocks. He was later rescued by Fire Service personnel and has been hospitalised at the district headquarters hospital.
However, five-year-old Amaresh remains untraceable while Fire Service personnel continued with their search operation.
