Hassan: Seven employees of Toyota Kirloskar in Bidadi died after their SUV plunged into a lake here on Saturday.

The group was on a pilgrimage to various religious places. However, three others who were in the SUV managed to escape with minor injuries.

According to the police, the deceased have been identified as Karthik (26) of Kuppur village in Turuvekere taluk in Tiptur, Dilip (23) of Thimmegowdana Doddi in Bidadi, Jayanth (24) of Arechakenahalli in Maddur taluk in Mandya, Satish (25) of Nallur village in Chamarajanagar district, Shivaswamy (25) of Halagur village in Mandya district, Janardhan (24) of Machohalli in Magadi taluk and N?R?Raju (24) of Nagaranahalli in Holenarasipura taluk in Hassan district. Prasanna Kumar, Raghu and Prashanth, who managed to escape, are undergoing treatment at the Hassan district hospital.

A group of friends had recently secured jobs after completing a training programme at Kirloskar and hence they decided to go on a pilgrimage to Hornadu Annapoorneshwari temple in Chikkamagaluru district.

Ten of them were travelling in the SUV, a Mahindra Scorpio, while the remaining four drove in a Maruthi Swift. They started their journey from Mandya on Friday at 10.30 pm.

At about 1.30 am, when the vehicle reached Janivara Lake, Prasanna, who was driving the SUV lost control over the vehicle, subsequently landing the vehicle in watery grave.

Swamy, a Janivara villager, who was passing by, noticed the vehicle in the pond.

The Fire and Emergency Services personnel and the police took the bodies out of the pond.