Nagpur, Aug 6: Friendship Day celebration took a tragic turn for three teenaged boys when they drowned in a lake while on a picnic to mark the occasion in Nagpur district, police said today.

A group of eight boys went for a swim in the Salai Mendha lake in Hingna area to celebrate Friendship Day last evening. However, three of them -- one aged 14 and two 17 years' old -- ventured deep into the water body and drowned, Hingna police station inspector Moreshwar Barapatre said.

The other group members alerted the police, who rushed to the spot but could not save them. The bodies were later fished out from the lake, the official said, adding a case of accidental death was registered.