Nilagiri: The bodies of two college students who drowned while bathing at Blue Lake near Mitrapur and Machhua villages in Nilagiri block of Baleshwar district were recovered Sunday, about 24 hours after they went missing.
The deceased were Bhavisya Patra, 17, of Baripada, and his classmate Anshuman Patra, 18, of Apartibindha area in Bhadrak district.
Both were second-year commerce degree students at Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Baleshwar district.
Police registered two unnatural death cases (50/26 and 51/26), and sent the bodies for post-mortem. The bodies were later handed over to their families.
On Saturday, Bhavishya, Anshuman and their friend Roshan Nayak, 18, from the Akana area of Hatadihi block in Kendujhar district, visited the lake to bathe after shooting a reel.
Bhavishya and Anshuman entered the water but slipped and were swept into deeper waters.
The lake is more than 250 feet deep. An ODRAF team and firefighters from Baleshwar searched for the students.
Their bodies were recovered around 11:30am Sunday.
The lake was formerly a stone quarry where blasting and excavation took place between 1985 and 2010. Underground water later filled the quarry, creating an artificial blue lake.