A middle-aged woman and her niece drowned in Mallannavagu stream at Rallagadda village in Gundala mandal of Bhadradri-Kothagudem district on Wednesday.
The police identified the deceased as D Saroja, 49, of Rallagadda and her niece Maunika, 19, of Lingala village in Mulugu district’s Tadvai mandal.
Maunika had come to Saroja’s house in Rallagadda a few days ago to work in a local chilli field along with her aunt, sources said.
Saroja and Maunika ventured into the Mallannavagu stream to wash clothes on Wednesday morning.
Maunika got caught in undercurrent at a deep point in the water body near a check dam across the stream. Saroja tried to save her niece, but both drowned within a few minutes, sources said.
Cattle grazers fished out their bodies from the stream and informed the local police.
The police shifted the bodies to the mortuary at the government area hospital in Yellandu and registered a case.
