Two students drowned in a water-filled stone quarry near Jatani on the outskirt of Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 17: Open pits created by stone quarries in Barakuda on the city outskirts claimed two lives today.

Two engineering students drowned this morning in one of these water-filled open pits while washing their hands.

The students were identified as Lakhyapati Nayak from Tumudibandh area in Kandhamaal district and Suaj Barik from Rourkela. Both were second year civil engineering diploma students at a private engineering college in Barakuda area.

Sources said that after their first class was over these students went out of the college after one of them complained of a stomach ache. As Nayak was staying at a private hostel in that area, they were allowed to go. However, after some time the college authorities got to know that they had drowned in a big stone quarry pit situated nearby.

Gyanaranjan Sahu, the public relations officer of the college, said local residents in the nearby Gayanali Square saw them drowning in the pit.

Soon after, the Jatani fire brigade were informed. They took around 30 minutes to recover the bodies from the 40-ft-deep pit, which covered around 3 acres.

“We saw the two youths there. But after sometime, they disappeared. We then suspected that something was wrong, so we went near the pit. Their college dresses were lying on the bank. We soon informed fire brigade and police,” said Ramesh Mohapatra, a local resident.

The police said that the circumstances hinted that Nayak drowned first, and his friend while trying to save him, also drowned in the pit. After the fire brigade personnel rescued them after searching for nearly 30 minutes, they were rushed to the Capital Hospital. There they were declared brought dead.

The police lodged registered a case of unnatural death and sent the bodies for post-mortem, after which they were handed over to the family.

Local residents complained that there has been rampant stone quarry work going on in their area and most of these pits have been kept open even after mining activities are over. In the rainy season, these pits get filled with water and some of them are used as ponds by nearby residents. “These water-filled pits become death traps,” a local resident said.

A college staff member said that there had been around 150 stone quarry pits surrounding the college.