Police have been in search of five girls aged below 13 who went missing in Hyderabad on Thursday. To their shock, all the five students were traced in Visakhapatnam on Friday.

After police enquired with them, they got to know that the girls wanted to go sight-seeing, hence they decided to go to Vizag and visit the beach front and other places.

"All the five children, Srinidhi, Pratibha, Sangeeta, Preeti and Nandini are residents of Nehru Nagar in Hyderabad's Amberpet and studying the seventh standard at Pragati Vidyaniketan School in the same area. On Thursday, soon after writing the final Class VII annual exam, they returned to their homes. However, at 3 pm, they told their parents that they were going to attend a farewell function at school."

"However, instead of going to the school, they gathered at Nandini's residence from where they went to Secunderabad railway station and boarded the Godavari Express and disembarked at Vizag on Friday morning. They spent some time at RK Beach and around 3 pm, went to Indira Gandhi Zoological Park. Our police team at the zoo spotted them and after realising that they had come from Hyderabad unaccompanied and without informing their parents, we took them under our custody. Two cops of Amberpet police station are on their way and will take the girls back to Hyderabad by Saturday morning," Arilova police station sub-inspector K Syamala Rao told.

"All the five girls are close friends and after completing their Class VII examinations wanted to go sight-seeing. They were carrying enough money. Thankfully, nothing happened to them," he said.

By Friday evening, all the five girls were handed over to their family members in the presence of child welfare committee officials.

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BY M. DIVYA SRI