Picnic turns tragic as three students of Chennai college drown in river Aliyar in Coimbatore district

Three students from Chennai drowned in river Aliyar during a college trip to Coimbatore, identified as Joseph, Revanth, and Tarun.

Three students of an allied health sciences institute in Chennai drowned in river Aliyar, near Pollachi, in Coimbatore district on Friday.

The deceased have been identified as Joseph Anton Jeniff, 21, of TSR Nagar at Tiruvottiyur in Chennai; Revanth. M., 21, of Kalidasan Nagar at Tenkasi; and P. Tarun Viswastharangan, 19, of Keelkattalai in Chennai.

The police said that Jeniff and Revanth were doing fourth year BSc. Physiotherapy and Viswastharangan was studying third year of the same programme at Saveetha College of Physiotherapy.

According to the police, 14 male and 14 female students of the college, accompanied by clinical therapist M. Santhosh, came to Coimbatore on Thursday afternoon to take part in a cultural event at a private college in the district. The students stayed at the college on Thursday night and left for Aliyar reservoir for a picnic on Friday morning.

The police said that two vans carrying the students halted near the bridge across river Aliyar on the Pollachi – Valparai road near Aliyar reservoir for sightseeing around 9.30 a.m. Some of the students, including Jeniff, Revanth and Viswastharangan, ventured into the water. The three reportedly moved to a deeper portion of the river, where they drowned.

Local residents recovered the bodies of the students, following which the police shifted them to the District Headquarters Hospital, Pollachi. A police officer said the post-mortem examination on the bodies of the deceased would be held on Saturday.