Police fished out the bodies of two 17-year-old boys from the Damodar on Wednesday but a search for their friend — the trio went missing in the river in West Burdwan’s Raniganj on Tuesday — is still on.

The bodies of Abhishek Mishra and Abhishek Mahato were identified. Their friend Roshan Singh is still traceless. All three boys were students of Class XI at Gyan Bharti Vidyalaya in Raniganj.

The police said that the trio had gone to the river on Tuesday afternoon to bathe.

“Initially four boys had gone to the river bank but one returned. These three went into the river to bathe. Residents saw them struggling in the water and informed Mejia police,” said a police officer.

The police found their clothes and Abhishek’s two wheeler on the riverbank.

The disaster management team, which launched a search, recovered two bodies on Wednesday.

One of Abhishek’s relatives said the three friends had gone to a tuition class on Tuesday morning but did not return. “I called up Abhishek on his cell phone to find out why they were late. Abhishek told me they were at the Damodar river,” he said. That was the last time he heard the boy.

Sources said the boys knew swimming. But the river bed was uneven and with deep crevices at some points because of illegal sandlifting. “The boys may have got trapped in a hole underwater,” said a resident.

A pall of gloom descended on Bhagat Para in Raniganj town where the boys lived. “We have lost hope of getting Roshan back alive,” said a neighbour.

“After his friends’ bodies were found, there seems little hope for Roshan,” he added.

Neighbours said that the trio would used to go to the river for bathing but had never expected such a tragedy.