Hyderabad, Sep 3 - It is an agonising wait for the family of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who remained untraced nearly 24 hours after the chopper carrying him and four others went missing in the dense Nallamalla forests.

The chief minister's wife Vijayalaxmi and other family members remain confined at the chief minister's camp office in Begumpet area here, praying for his safe return while his son and Member of Parliament Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy has reached Atmakur in Kurnool district, where the authorities are coordinating search operations.

K.V.P. Ramchandra Rao, a close aide of the chief minister, is keeping the family posted of the search operations being carried out by the Indian Air Force (IAF), Indian Army and police.

YSR's daughter Sharmila and her children reached Hyderabad from Bangalore in the early hours Thursday.