TNI Bureau: Three Class X students of a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya died after drowning in the Kolab reservoir in Odisha’s Koraput district on Saturday, officials said.

According to reports, the students had recently completed their board examinations and had gone to the Kolab reservoir along with a few friends. While bathing in the water, three of them reportedly slipped into a deeper portion of the reservoir and were unable to swim back to safety.

On being informed, local residents and authorities rushed to the spot and pulled the students out of the water. They were immediately taken to the Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital in Koraput. However, doctors declared all three students dead.

The deceased have been identified as Lingaraj Khilo, Om Prakash Behera and Swasthita Sundar Halwa, all students of Class X of the residential school.

Police have registered a case and begun an inquiry to ascertain the circumstances that led to the incident. The tragic deaths have cast a pall of gloom over the school and the surrounding area, with many expressing grief over the loss of the young students.