2 Indian students drown in US, one was trying to save the other

Houston: Police said two students from Telangana drowned in a lake in Missouri on Saturday during the Thanksgiving weekend.

The victims were identified as 24-year-old Uthej Kunta, and 25-year-old Shiva Kelligari by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The two Indian nationals from Telangana drowned in the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri on Saturday. Details of the victims were not immediately known.

Telangana minister K T Rama Rao in a tweet said that he has asked his team to assist the victims' families in getting the bodies back as soon as possible.

First responders received a call on Saturday at 2:20 p.m. requesting assistance locating the two, the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Twitter page tweeted on Sunday.

The incident took place when Kunta who went swimming in the lake failed to surface. His friend Kelligari then jumped into the lake to rescue Kunta but failed to come back up too, the police statement said.

Kunta's body was recovered two hours after the incident by the rescue services on Saturday while Kelligari's body was recovered later on Sunday, police said.

Both were pronounced dead on scene, according to police records.

The manager of the Airbnb where the two were staying said that he called the emergency services after hearing cries for help.

"I called 911 and my daughter also called 911," he said.

"My brother jumped in the water and tried to save him but by the time he got to the kayak, they were already gone," he was quoted as saying by the local television channel KY3.com.

PTI with inputs