Telangana floods: Telugu journalist washed away in Jagtial; search operation launched

Hyderabad: A Telugu journalist has gone missing after being washed away by the flood waters in Jagtial.

Identified as Zameer, he has been working with Telugu news channel `NTV'.

The incident occurred when he and his colleague were crossing a flooded road in a car in Bornapalli village in Raikal Mandal of Jagtial.

According to sources, Zameer along with another NTV journalist Irshad had gone to report on the nine agricultural laborers who were trapped in the Godavari in Jagtial.

Irshad later managed to escape to safety. "I also cruised through the water for a long time before catching hold of a tree branch and lifting myself out. Zameer was trying to open the door. He was sitting in the backseat of the car. I am not sure if he opened the door or not, whether he fell into the water." said Irshad.

The search operation is underway to find Zameer. "All the officials are here. The car is in the flooded water. We are waiting for a procliner to come and lift the car out," said Irshad.

He said the road was filled with water and fallen trees. He urged the public not to come to the spot.

According to the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS), in the last 24 hours, Jagtial received very heavy (115.6 mm-204.4 mm) to extremely heavy (above 204.5 mm) rainfall. Velgatoor in the district received the highest rainfall of 223.4 mm. Ibrahimpatnam, Koratla, and Dharmapuri also received extremely heavy rainfall.

On 12 and 13 July, IMD Hyderabad issued an orange alert for Jagtial.