Three school students who had gone for a picnic drowned while bathing in river Rushikulya near the Taratarini Temple in Ganjam district on Wednesday morning.
The deceased were identified as Pankaj Sahu, Sandip Maharana and Saswat Behera. All of them were aged about 13-14 and students of Bhadrak-based Sunshine Mission School and natives of Bhadrak town.
According to reports, a group of students of the Sunshine Mission School, accompanied by two tuition masters and a cook, had arrived near the Taratarini Peeth in morning for a picnic. After reaching, some of the students had gone for a bath in the Rushikulya when three of them slipped into deep waters and drowned. On being informed, a fire brigade team from Chhatrapur rushed to the spot and fished out the three bodies after an hour-long search.
The bodies were later taken to the Community Health Centre at Purushottampur.
Meanwhile, the Sunshine Mission School Principal said he had no knowledge that the students had gone for a picnic. “The picnic was not arranged by the school authorities. We will inquire into the incident,” he said.
