Three from Bengaluru drown in sea off Puducherry

PUDUCHERRY: Three tourists including a woman, employees of a multinational company in Bengaluru, drowned in the sea off Puducherry on Saturday morning. The local fishermen saved two others, including a woman, and admitted them to Indira Gandhi Govt General Hospital and Postgraduate Institute.G Varun, 26, of Mangaluru informed the Ariyankuppam police that a group of 12 people working in a multinational company came on a tour to Puducherry on Aug 14. They stayed at a hotel at Vaithikuppam in Muthialpet. They rented six motorbikes at 7.30am on Aug 16 and visited Eden Garden beach in Chinna Veerampattinam on the outskirts of Puducherry town. They were bathing in the sea when five of them, including two women, were pulled into the sea by a giant wave.The local fishermen rescued them and took them to the general hospital in the town. The duty doctor declared three people, including S Prajwal Meti, 23, from Hubli, L Megha, 29, from Shimoga and S Sai Pavankumar, 25, from Andhra Pradesh were brought dead. Two others, including A Aditi, 23 from Gujarat and V Jeevan, 25 from Chikmagalur, Bengaluru, were undergoing treatment in the hospital.