Three students from Chennai school drown in Pune dam

Three students from a Chennai school, who had come to Pune in Maharashtra for a summer camp with their classmates, drowned in the Mulshi dam, located around 50 kms away from here, police said today.

The deceased trio were part of a group of 20 students of Chennai's ECS Matriculation school who were visiting the dam along with their teachers yesterday.

The incident occurred last evening after all students entered the backwater for swimming, said a senior officer of Paud police station.

According to the officer, the students had just appeared for final examination for class 8 and are awaiting results. Yesterday was the first day of the summer camp, he added.

"After their activities got over for the day, all the students were taken to the backwater for swimming. They were accompanied by four teachers," he said.

He said the teachers had entered the water first to gauge its depth, and instructed the students not to enter deep water.

"However, the three students, identified as Danish Raja, Sarvana Kumar and Santosh Ganesh (all 14 years), swam farther and got separated from the group," the officer said.

When all the students came out of the water, the teachers realised that the three students were missing, he said, adding that the teachers looked for the trio, but as they failed to trace them, they informed the local authorities.

"The local police reached the spot and with the help of villagers, launched a search in the backwater. Raja's body was fished out of the water last night," he said.

On Thursday morning, local authorities contacted the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to search for two other students.

"The bodies of Kumar and Ganesh were fished out by a team of 26 personnel from the NDRF this noon," the officer said, adding that the police are recording the statements of teachers and other students.

"The parents of deceased students have been contacted. Further action will be taken once they reach Pune," he added. PTI"CORR