Mangalore: Three students, who went to bathe in Netravathi river at Nandavara, near the Panemangalore bridge on Tuesday afternoon, lost their lives.

They were identified as Jitesh (17), Laxmeesh (19), and Yashodhar (21), on a holiday in view of Mohurrum, a Muslims’ sad day.

The boys had worked in the fields, and went to the river as good swimmers to clean up, but when they dived in low water level, they were flooded by sudden rise in levels, as nearby AMR power project engineers opened gates and released excess waters.

The boys were drowned in the process. 3 Muslim onlookers tried to save the helpless boys, but in vain, they say.

Local people collected in large numbers, and assisted by local police, took out the bodies of Jitesh and Laxmeesh, but Yashodhar’s dead body could not be traced out. There was no warning signal around locals said.

The 2 dead were Shantappa Gowda’s sons in the locality.

B. Ramanath Rai(MLA) and Padmanabha Kottari (BJP leader) visited the scene.