A group of 20 diploma students of Anurag Engineering college had gone to Veerabhadra temple to celebrate the birthday of one of them - Chakrala Praveen, 20.

Four of them, including the birthday boy Praveen, drowned while trying to save one of their friends, Sameer, who had fallen into the lake accidentally while washing his hands. The other victims have been identified as Sameer, Buhavan Prasad and Mahender.

“During the celebration, Sameer went near the lake to wash his hands. While washing, he accidentally fell into the water and started screaming for help. His friends jumped into the lake in a bid to rescue him and ended up drowning as well, as they did not know swimming,” Deccan Chronicle quoted the police inspector of Kodad town M Ravi.

The police have registered a case and handed them over to the family members after post-mortem examination.