Bhubaneswar, April 23 -- A cheerful day out turned into a nightmare for a group of students when one of them tragically drowned while swimming in the Ratagada canal, located in the Baranga area of Cuttack district on Thursday. 

The group of four students had gathered for a picnic and decided to cool off in the canal. However, the fun quickly turned fatal when one of the students, a fourth-year engineering student from a nearby university, lost control while swimming and sank into the water.

As the panic-stricken friends tried to raise the alarm, the fire brigade was called to the scene. Firefighters arrived promptly and began a search operation in the canal. After an extensive search, they recovered the young man's lifeless body fr...