Kannur: In a tragic incident, three pharmacy students from Karnataka drowned in the sea at Payyambalam Beach, Kannur, on Sunday.

The deceased have been identified as Afnan Ahmed (26) from Narasipura, Mohammed Rahanuddin (26) from Hyderabad, and Mohammed Afroz (25) from Chitradurga.

All three were pursuing their pharmacy degree at Al-Ameen College of Pharmacy in Bengaluru and were in Kannur for their internship. Incidentally, it was Rahanuddin’s birthday on Saturday.

The group of eight students had arrived at a resort in Payyambalam around 11.30 pm on Saturday. On Sunday morning, around 11 am, two of them entered the sea for a bath and ventured up to neck-deep water when they were swept away by strong waves. In a desperate attempt to rescue them, the third student also got trapped in the waves.

When the trio went missing, their friends immediately alerted locals and fishermen for help.

A joint search operation was launched by the fire brigade, police, and local fishermen. The bodies of two students were recovered shortly after the search began, while the third was found later after a net was cast in the area.

The bodies were shifted to the Kannur district hospital morgue. The relatives of the deceased arrived in Kannur on Sunday night. After the postmortem examination, the bodies will be handed over to their families on Monday.

Known danger zone ignored

Residents pointed out that the stretch of the beach where the group entered the sea is known to be unsafe for swimming. Locals often warn visitors against venturing into the water there, but many reportedly ignore these warnings.