5 medical students drown in sea off Kanyakumari coast

FIVE medical students drowned in the sea off the Kanyakumari coast on Monday after they went swimming at a closed private beach in Tamil Nadu. 

The deceased, including two women, were students of SRM Medical College in Tiruchirappalli and were in the city to attend a wedding.

The bodies have been recovered and sent for post-mortem.

According to an NDTV report, the deceased have been identified as Charukavi, Gayathiri, Sarvadarshith, Praveen Sam and Venkatesh. 

Venkatesh was a resident of Andhra Pradesh while the other four belonged to Tamil Nadu.

"The group had accessed the closed Lemur Beach through a coconut grove. It was closed as the sea was rough," NDTV reported quoting E Sundaravathanam, Kanyakumari District Superintendent of Police.

The students were in their final year of medical college and were about to receive their degrees in a few weeks, the NDTV report said. 

After initially visiting Thirparappu Falls, where they found little water, the deceased then proceeded to the Rajakkamangalam area.

From there, they went to the nearby Lemur Beach along the Arabian Sea. While playing on the beach, a massive wave swept them into the sea, Times of India reported.

Notably, the India Meteorological Department has also issued a warning on swell surges.

The SP said that the youngsters had ignored the district administration's warning.

Besides the five deceased, three other female medical interns were rescued and are undergoing treatment at the Asaripallam Medical College Hospital. The SP visited them in the hospital and inquired about their health condition.

On Saturday, three children drowned while taking a bath in a canal in the Kishni area of Mainpuri district in Uttar Pradesh.