The bodies of three young men, who went missing after their coracle (theppa) capsized in the backwaters of the Sharavathi river, were recovered on Thursday.

The tragic incident occurred on Wednesday evening near Kalasavalli in Sagara taluk, Shivamogga district, when five young men embarked on a coracle ride. During the journey, the coracle overturned. Two of the youths, identified as Naveen and Yashwant, managed to swim to safety, but 3 others went missing.

The bodies of the missing youths, identified as Chetan, Sandeep, and Raju, were recovered by a search team of the fire department, assisted by Ishwar Malpe’s team of expert divers, on Thursday morning.

The bodies have been sent to Sagara Government Hospital for post-mortem examination. The incident has cast a pall over the local community.