Overview
- Police recovered the bodies from a village pond on the outskirts of Ongole after a search and formally identified the victims as Kareti Abhiram (14), Kareti Sushanth (12), Podili Chinnu (11) and Illa Dinesh (10).
- Families raised the alarm when the boys did not return home and one mother found clothes and footwear beside the water, prompting officers and rescue teams to begin the hunt.
- Local residents reported seeing two of the brothers near a palm tree by the pond and said the children may have entered the water to bathe or swim, though officials have not issued a formal cause beyond drowning.
- Police worked with National Disaster Response Force personnel for about four hours to recover the bodies and have handed them to the families while registering a case under the relevant death-by-drowning provision.
- The Social Welfare Minister contacted district officials to seek details, and the deaths — including three siblings among the victims — have deepened local grief and could prompt reviews of pond safety and community search protocols.