PALAKKAD: Five students drowned while taking a bath in the river in Valparai. The students died while taking a bath in the river of Sholayar Estate. The deceased have been identified as Sarath, Ajay, Raphael, Vineeth and Dhanush from Ukkadam, Coimbatore. They are students of a college in Coimbatore.

The ten-member group had reached here around 4:30 pm. Five people from this group went to bathe. The accident occurred while one of them was swept away and the other four were trying to save him. Clarity on the event is yet to be received. It was the rest of the group that informed the locals after the accident. A search was conducted by locals and the fire brigade. The bodies were found in the search.