Nine persons, including two students, lost their lives in Andhra in different mishaps due to heavy rains across Andhra Pradesh from the early hours of Saturday.
Five, including two women, died when huge boulders fell on their homes in a landslide at Mogulrajapuram in Vijayawada. About a dozen sustained injuries and were shifted to hospitals, according to the police.
A teacher and two students died as the car in which they were travelling was swept away in flood waters at Uppalapadu in the Guntur district.
Meanwhile, the ghat road to Sri Durga temple in Vijayawada has been temporarily closed as a retaining wall collapsed on the Indrakilandari hillock. The protocol office was destroyed due to the fall of huge boulders. “The timely shutdown of the ghat road prevented loss of life,” said a temple official. The Kanaka Durga Varadhi was closed to traffic throughout Saturday. The officials released water from the Prakasam Barrage by lifting all 70 gates to ease the flood threat.
A holiday was declared for schools, and people were advised not to step out of their homes except in emergencies.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the situation, directed the officials to be on high alert, and hasten relief measures.