Mysuru/Kannur, 2 Nov

Seven students from Karnataka drowned in two separate incidents over the weekend, in Srirangapatna taluk of Mandya district and off the Payyambalam coast in Kerala.

In the first incident, four students from Hajira Nishwana Arabic School in Udayagiri, Mysuru, were washed away in the Ramaswamy Canal at Mahadevapura Bore near Mandyakoppal village on Saturday. Police recovered two bodies that evening and retrieved the remaining two on Sunday. The deceased are Ayesha, 14; Honey, 13; Afreen, 13; and Jania Parveen, 13.

Police said around 15 madrasa students from Shanti Nagar had gone on an outing when Ayesha slipped into the canal while washing her clothes. The other three students drowned while attempting to rescue her. Another student, Mohammed Ghouse, who also jumped in to help, was rescued and admitted to KR Hospital in Mysuru.

In Kerala, three Karnataka-origin medical students drowned off Payyambalam beach in Kannur around 11 am on Sunday.

The victims are Afnan, Rahanuddeen and Afras, all medical students in Bengaluru. According to police, a group of eight students entered the sea for a swim, but three were pulled away by strong waves. Though they were rescued and taken to hospital, they could not be saved.