Woman, two children washed away

Visakhapatnam: A 28-year-old woman and her two children were washed away in a stream and five others suffered injuries when an overcrowded jeep, in which they were travelling, accidentally rolled down and turned turtle in a flowing stream in between Annavaram and Somavaram villages of Chintapalle mandal in Agency on Monday. On a tip off, the police and locals have started search operations and managed to trace two bodies only.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police, Chintapalle, Anil Pulapati the woman and her two children were native of Donapalem village of Chintapalle mandal they had come to attend the weekly shandy (Market) at Annavaram. After completing their work, they were returning to their village in a jeep and the vehicle had to travel across the small bridge, which was under repair, on a stream.

When the vehicle reached Somavaram village, the driver halted the jeep and waiting for more passengers by standing outside the jeep and incident took place. The police are ascertain the details. However, according to the ground reports, the hand brakes of the jeep had come off or someone had disengaged the clutch of the vehicle and the jeep rolled down into the stream and turned turtle, the DSP said.

The bodies of the mother K Peddhammi (28) and the six-month-old infant was traced by the police. We are yet to trace six-year-old Kothuru Gurunath and search operation is on, the DSP added.

Maeanwhile, sources said that Peddhammi's husband Sattibabu was also travelling in the jeep, he got down from the vehicle to purchase some sweets for his children at the time of the incident. The injured were admitted to a government hospital where their condition is said to be stable.