Five students of a private medical college in Tamil Nadu’s Trichy, who went to Nagercoil to attend a wedding, drowned in the sea off the Rajakkamangalam Lemur Beach on Monday morning.
According to the police, all five deceased — two women and three men house surgeons — were final-year students of Trichy SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre. One of the victims was from Andhra Pradesh, and the other four were from Tamil Nadu, all in the age group of 23-24 years. The police said all bodies have been recovered.
According to the police, about 12 medical students visited the Rajakkamangalam Lemur Beach at around 9:30 am on Monday after watching the sunrise in Kanyakumari.
“There were high tides, and a security staff posted there had warned them. As they were close to the water, enjoying the sea, a strong wave hit them and dragged seven people. Two were rescued soon, but five students lost their lives due to drowning. One of the rescued is in critical condition and admitted to the hospital. A case has been registered, and an investigation is ongoing,” an officer said.
Local sources claimed that the victims were swimming in the sea when they were hit by a massive wave, but the police refused to confirm this version.
Due to the rough sea, high alerts were issued for many coastal regions in South India on Sunday, including Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram, and Tuticorin. Fishermen were also advised to be cautious and refrain from fishing due to the rough sea and high waves, ranging from 0.5 metre to 1.8 metre in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu.
The KSEAB is set to release the SSLC results today for the 8.9 lakh students who appeared for exams from March 25 to April 6. The results can be checked on karresults.nic.in or sslc.karnataka.gov.in, with the link expected to be activated after the press conference. In previous years, girls have outperformed boys with an 83.27% pass percentage.
