Madikeri: Three tourists from Hyderabad, who had come to Kote Abbey (Abbi) Falls near Mukkodlu in Kodagu were drowned. The tragedy took place yesterday afternoon.

The deceased are Shyam (36), Shahindra (16) and Sriharsha (18), all from Hyderabad. The bodies were fished out from the falls by Fire and Emergency Services personnel and where shifted to Madikeri General Hospital for post-mortem.

Details

On Saturday, 13 tourists from Hyderabad had come to Kodagu on a tour and were staying in a Home Stay at Kushalnagar.

On Sunday early morning, the tourists visited Mandalpatti and later went to Kote Abbey Falls. It is learnt that a few people from the Hyderabad group ventured into the waters while others were sting on the rocks and watching them.

Meanwhile, one of them slipped and fell into the water falls and shouted for help. Alerted by the screams, two others jumped into the falls in a bid to rescue him but were caught in the strong currents of the water and all the three were drowned.

Fire and Emergency Services personnel, who arrived at the spot, conducted an operation and fished out all the three bodies from the water. Madikeri Rural Police conducted mahazar and shifted the bodies to Madikeri General Hospital mortuary for post-mortem.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Malachira Aiyappa visited the mortuary and collected information. Speaking to media persons, the SP said that the deceased did not know swimming and were drowned besides stating that the bodies would be handed over to the family members after post-mortem.