Amaravati, Feb 28 (IANS): Three minor students drowned in a stream in Andhra Pradesh's Prakasam district, police said on Monday.

The bodies of the students aged between 12 and 15 years were recovered from Musi Vagu at Podavaripalem near Ponduru on Monday morning.

The boys were missing since Sunday evening and the search operations had not yielded any result.

Rescue workers resumed the search on Monday morning and found the bodies in the stream. They were identified as Vasu (15), Mahesh (13) and Jagan (12).

The three students of Nidamanuru Zilla Parishad School had gone near the stream to play cricket. They later entered the stream to learn swimming. Some agricultural workers nearby had warned them against wading into the water.

When the children did not return home till late in the evening, anxious parents along with others began searching. After learning that the boys had gone towards Musi Vagu, they all reached there. Police with the help of fishermen also began the search. Since it was dark, they had to call off the search operation.

The rescue workers resumed search on Monday morning and found bodies of all three missing boys. Police shifted the bodies for autopsy and took up investigation.