Andhra Pradesh techie drowns in North Carolina waterfall

A software engineer from Andhra Pradesh drowned in a waterfall near Charlotte city in North Carolina on Sunday, July 1.

The 33-year-old techie, identified as Gogineni Nagarjuna, hailed from Gottumukkala village, Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh. His family members were informed about the incident by his friends on Monday morning.

Reports suggest that Nagarjuna, along with his friends, had visited the Elk waterfalls on Sunday. Unfortunately, Nagarjuna had fallen off on the rocks and slid into the gushing water stream. Local authorities found his body half an hour later, reports Deccan Herald.

The Elk waterfall is considered to be one of the precarious waterfalls in the state of North Carolina.

"When he did not come out of the water, his friends informed the police. The police fished out his body from the water and informed my mother about his death around 6 am on Monday," Nagarjuna's sister Pujitha, was quoted as saying by New Indian Express.

After completing his Bachelors from Vijayawada, Nagarjuna had gone to the United States in 2008 to pursue his higher education. Soon after his graduation, he started working as a software engineer at a multi-national company. Nagarjuna was also about to get married soon, reports the Hindu.

In order to help the ailing family of the deceased, the Telugu Association of North America started raising funds through their online page. They had raised $12,000 on Gofundme website.

"Nagarjuna went out with friends for a drive and visited the waterfalls two hours from Charlotte where he drowned accidentally. He was and would always be greatly loved. His family is in India and we are working with Indian associations especially TANA for final rites or options to send the body to India (sic)," Satish M, organizer of Telugu Association of North America was quoted as saying by The Hindu.