ALAPPUZHA: Two Class 10 students drowned in the Kannamangalam Sree Mahadeva Temple Pond in Alappuzha on Saturday. The deceased are Salman (15), son of Pathiyoor native Naushad and Shamna, and Tushar (15) son of Pathiyoorkala native Thulasi and Ganga. Both were Class 10 students of Pathiyoor Panchayat High School.

Salman and Tushar were part of an 8-member group that came to take a bath at the temple pond yesterday afternoon after completing their Sugama Hindi exam. Although some locals scolded them and asked them not to bathe in the pond, the students did not leave the pond. In the meantime, three students drowned in the water. While one of the students was pulled back to the shore by a friend, Tushar and Salman drowned in the water. By the time the Fire Force arrived from Mavelikara, the locals had taken both children out of the pond. Although the two were rushed to a nearby private hospital with the help of the Fire Force and police, they could not be saved. The bodies have been shifted to the mortuary of the Mavelikara Govt Hospital.