Kendrapada: Three teenage boys drowned while bathing in Luna river in Kendrapada district on Tuesday. The deceased were identified as Chirnjibi Parida, Sabyasachi Swain and Ashis Satapathy, all aged 18 and residents of Gahaga village. They were Plus II students at a private college.According to police and eyewitnesses, the incident occurred around 8 am when a group of youths entered the river to bathe. They were swept away by strong currents. Hearing their cries for help, nearby residents rushed to the bank but could not rescue them. Local resident Amiya Parida said a deep pit near the river’s entry point caused the victims to lose their footing instantly. He said unregulated sand mining had left deep, hidden pits in the riverbed, which filled with water and became death traps. The victims, unaware of the altered depth, drowned after entering the water, he added.“Fire service personnel conducted a search operation and retrieved all three bodies from the river on Tuesday evening. The victims were taken to the community health centre at Derabish, where attending doctors declared them dead on arrival,” said IIC, Kendrapada Sadar police station, Padmalaya Pradhan.