Three engineering students drown in Krishna river

Vijayawada: A pall of gloom descended on VR Siddhartha Engineering College as three students of the college drowned in the Krishna river at Madduru village in Kankipadu mandal on Tuesday.

According to information, Jonnalagadda Rajesh of Nidamanuru, Lal Babu Naik of Tadigadapa and Vemuri Srikanth of Kandukur, fourth year civil engineering students went to the river as part of their project work. Unaware of pits underwater caused due to indiscriminate sand quarrying, the trio entered the river and met a watery grave. Their friend Nagul Meera, who entered the river along with them, managed to reach the bank safely, and alerted the locals. But none of them went to the rescue of the students.

According to the Kankipadu sub-inspector, the students tried to cross the river along with their project equipment. They got stuck in a pit and drowned. Later, the bodies of the three students were retrieved from the river and sent for autopsy. A case was registered.