Kundapur: A weekend trip turned tragic on Sunday afternoon when three students from Bengaluru drowned at Gopadi beach in Kundapur taluk. Another student, identified as Niroop (20), was rescued but is said to be in critical condition and was rushed to Manipal Hospital for treatment.
The deceased have been identified as Gautham (19), Lokesh (19), and Ashish (18). Their bodies were recovered by local residents who rushed to the spot for rescue operations. Niroop was pulled out alive but is said to be in a serious condition. At the time of the incident, other students — Rahul, Dhanush, Nitin, Kushal, and Aneesh — managed to escape unharmed.
According to sources, a group of 10 students from Bengaluru, studying in different colleges, had arrived in Kundapur by train on Friday evening to spend their weekend holiday. After visiting popular tourist spots, including Sri Krishna Mutt and Malpe Beach, they stayed in a private lodge at Kumbashi, near Kundapur, on Saturday.
On Sunday morning around 7:30 a.m., four to five students used mobile location tracking to walk down to Charkikadu beach in Gopadi village, later calling the rest of their friends from the lodge to join them. Except for one student, Anjan, who stayed back onshore, the remaining nine students entered the sea for swimming and water games.
Around 1:30 p.m., cries for help were heard. Local fisherman Umesh Poojari rushed to the shore and managed to rescue two students, including Niroop. Despite further efforts by locals, three students had already been swept away by strong currents.
Locals revealed that they had warned the students about the dangerous tides, but the warnings were ignored, leading to the tragedy.
Rescue operations were carried out by expert diver Ishwar Malpe’s team along with local volunteers, while fire and police personnel also arrived at the spot.
The bodies of the three deceased students were first taken to the government mortuary in Kundapur before being shifted to Manipal Hospital for post-mortem examination. Meanwhile, Kundapur police have registered a case in connection with the incident.