Bengaluru, Apr 23 (IANS): Five students of an engineering college in their early 20s drowned in a stone-quarry pit at Bettahalasur near the Karnataka capital on Thursday, police said.

"The incident occurred when eight students went to a quarry pit for recreation this afternoon. Five of them entered the murky waters while three stayed on the pit as they did not know how to swim. As one of them was suddenly drowning, the other four tried to rescue him but were drowned in the swirling waters," Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East) Vikas Kumar Vikas told reporters.

Shocked by the turn of events, the trio raised an alarm and called police and people from a nearby village to search for their friends' bodies.

"Divers could fish out four bodies by evening and called off the search operation for the fifth body due to fading light. They will resume the search on Friday morning to recover the fifth body," Vikas said.

The youth were second year students of Sri Revana Siddeshwara Institute of Technology at Chikkajala, around 25 km from the city.

The victims were identified as Rajesh, Arun Chandra Shetty, Nand Kumar, Kem Patai and Harish. Harish's body is yet to be recovered.

"The Bettahalasur pit is a prohibited area, as water, accumulated over time due to quarrying activity, runs deep up to 80 feet and dangerous for swimming. As the quarry is abandoned, no check on people visiting the pit," Vikas added.