Five students on a trip drown at Mekedatu

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: Five engineering college students including three girls drowned at the confluence of the Kaveri river at Mekedatu scenic spot in Kanakapura on Monday.

About 12 college students from Bengaluru had gone on a sight-seeing trip to Mekedatu Sangama spot where the Kaveri river flows through a deep and narrow gorge at Kanakapura in Ramanagara district.

Among them, three female students and two male students have died, police said.

Initially, one student went down into the river to swim when he was washed away.

Some of his classmates who rushed to his rescue, also lost their lives by drowning one after the other, police said. This incident took place at Kanakapura in the jurisdiction of Sathanur Police Station.

It was learned that the deceased youngsters were students of a private college in Bengaluru.

The deceased have been identified as Varsha, 20, of KLE College 2nd Phase, Rajajinagar; Arpita NL, 20, Engineering 2nd year student of RR College, Chikkabanavara; Neha, 19, Chemistry student of KLE College, RR Nagar; Abhishek, 20, of Bihar, Computer Science student of Malleswaram Government College and Tejas, 21, BCA 2nd year student of Vijayanagar Government College, the police said.

The fire brigade personnel reached the spot and recovered the bodies of the students from the river. Kanakapura Rural Police and Satanuru station police visited the place and conducted an inspection.

The bodies were later sent to Dayananda Vidyasagar Hospital. A case has been registered at Sathanur police station regarding the incident.