Three students of Christ College, Vizhinjam, a self-financing Arts & Science College, drowned in Vavvamoola Lake in Venganoor panchayat in the outskirts of Thiruvananthapram on Friday.

The deceased were identified as Mukundan Unni (19), Libinon (20), and Fredin (19). The incident happened around 3 pm. A fourth student, who was on the shore, alerted the residents. Though they immediately started rescue operations, students could not be saved. The bodies of the three students were recovered after the fire force reached the spot. The bodies have been shifted to the mortuary of the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram.

The four students had arrived at the Vavvamoola Lake for bath. "Local fishermen who went out in search of the boys in the lake said that the three would have ventured far deep into the lake," said R S Sreekumar, the Venganoor Panchayat president. "This lake is a safe place. People come here to take bath. We have never had such incidents before. No one has ever been injured in this area either. But as we go farther into the lake it gets swampy. These areas can suck a person in. Even fisherfolk in these areas do not swim deep," Sreekumar said.

The Fire Force personnel had wrapped up the search quicky as the bodies were found right where their friend had seen them last.

Two of the three students lived near the coast. Libino was from Vizhinjam, and Fredin from Vettucaud. Mukundan Unni lived closer to the city, at Manacaud. The fourth friend, who was witness to the tragedy, was from Poovar, which again is a coastal area far south of the lake.

Vavvamoola is a closed water body found between the coast and the Karamana-Kanyakumari highway.