Three students of a private physiotherapy college in Thandalam near Chennai drowned in the Aliyar river in Pollachi on Friday, April 25. The trio, along with 25 other students, had come for a cultural event at a private college in Coimbatore.

The accident happened on Friday morning when they got trapped in a 10-foot-deep pit in the river. Their bodies were later retrieved and sent to Pollachi Government Hospital for postmortem.

The deceased students have been identified as M Revanth (21) of Kalidasan Nagar in Tenkasi and G Joseph Anton Jeniff (21) of TSR Nagar in Tiruvottiyur studying in the fourth year and P Tarun Viswastharangan (19) of Keelkattalai in Chennai studying in third year.

The police said the deceased along with their classmates had reached Coimbatore on Thursday afternoon, April 24, to attend the cultural festival at a private college at Thirumalaiyampalayam village near Madukkarai.

Early on Friday morning, they went to the river adjacent to the sluices of the Aliyar dam by hiring tourist vans. A total of 28 students, including 14 girls, and a staff member went to the river.

A police officer said, "Entry was banned here but they went to take bath without noticing the warning boards. There was no surveillance as it was in the early morning hours. The three students went inside the water, where there were deep pits. Unable to bring them out, their classmates alerted the residents who called the police, coracle operators and fire and rescue services personnel. They then retrieved the bodies. Aliyar police have booked a case for further investigation."