The search for the bodies of two missing persons washed away by the sea at the Kaup beach in Udupi on Saturday evening was still continuing, police said.
Despite the efforts of rescuers, police, fire force personnel and the locals, the bodies could not be located till this afternoon, they said.
Of the three persons drowned, only the body of Jagadish Rao (40) could be recovered from the sea on Saturday. They were part of a family picnic trip to the beach. Five of them, who had gone for a swim, were caught in the waves.
Locals rescued two persons while the other three were washed away. The bodies of Sunil (33) and Harsha (14) were yet to be traced, police said.
Karkala MLA Sunil Kumar, in a statement, alleged that there was lapse on the part of the Udupi district administration in conducting the search and said the help of defence forces should have been sought. There were also complaints that the tourism department was not arranging any safety measures to prevent such incidents in the beach which attracted large crowds during weekends, he said.
