Three college girls drown in sea

Three students of a women’s college drowned while bathing with friends at the estuary at Poompuhar in Nagapattinam district on Wednesday morning.

The deceased were identified as Sivapriya (17) of Sethiathoppu and Manju (18) and Viveka (18) of Pazhayar Pudupattinam. Two others, Sangeetha (17) of Vadalur in Cuddalore district, and Hasina Banu (18) of Chidambaram, were rescued by locals and admitted to the Poompuhar Government Hospital.

They were among a group of seven students pursuing under graduation courses in Gnanambikai College for Women, Mayiladuthurai. All of them were said to be staying in the college hostel. The students had gone to Poompuhar for an outing to spend the holiday in between semester examinations, police sources said.