Three students were also washed away in the Krishna river when they tried to rescue their friend.
The bodies of the four engineering students who drowned in the Krishna river in Andhra Pradesh yesterday were recovered this morning. Nearly 100 personnel, from the NDRF, state disaster management body and the fire department , were involved in the search operations that went on through the night.
Five second year students of a private engineering college had gone for a picnic to Ibrahimpatnam's Pavitra Sangamam, the confluence of the Krishna and the Godavari rivers.
When one of them was drowning while bathing in the river, three of his friends jumped into the water to rescue him, but were washed away because of strong water currents.
Police said one of the students crossed the safety railing, which led to the incident. The bodies of the four teenagers were recovered before a Navy team from Visakhapatnam could reach the site of accident by road.
The teenagers have been identified as Praveen K, 18, Krishna Chaitanya Reddy, 18, Raj Kumar Pilla 19, and Srinadh N, 19. They were studying at MIC Engineering College in Kanchikacharla district.
Krishna District Collector Vijaya Krishnan and other officials rushed to the scene of the accident. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has expressed grief over the accident. "Everything happened in two minutes. By the time the patrol teams in the area arrived, everything happened," Mr Krishnan said.
In November last year,
at least 16 people died after an overloaded boat capsized in the Krishna River near Vijayawada, 275 km from Hyderabad. The accident took place when the boat set off for Pavitra Sangamam.
(With inputs from IANS and PTI)