CHENNAI: A beach outing to film social media reels turned tragic after two students from a private engineering college drowned while swimming off Bharathiyar Beach in Ennore on Saturday morning.
Ennore police identified the victims as Keerthika (19), a third year B.Tech Information Technology student from Puducherry, and Akash (20), a second year B.E. Electrical and Electronics Engineering student from Avadi.
According to police, the two were among five friends from a private engineering college in Soorapattu, Tiruvallur district, who had visited the beach to swim and film social media reels.
The group also included Pavithra (18), a second year B.Tech IT student, Shivani (19), a third year B.Tech IT student, and their friend Tharun (21), a B.Sc. graduate.
While they were swimming, Akash and Keerthika were caught in strong waves and swept away. Fishermen managed to rescue Keerthika and rushed her to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared her dead.
Fire and Rescue Services personnel, assisted by local fishermen, launched a search operation for Akash. His body was recovered nearly three hours later and handed over to the police.
The bodies of Keerthika and Akash were later sent to Government Stanley Medical College Hospital for post mortem examination. Police have registered a case and are investigating the incident.