Rescue workers retrieve the bodies of three students who were found dead in a cave in Indonesia on Monday (December 23).

The university students had been exploring the Lele cave in West Java when they were trapped by flood waters from an unexpected rain storm on Sunday.

A search and rescue operation launched after they became trapped and five people were rescued alive.

Rescue spokesman Seni Wulandari said the victims were trapped in the cave ''for quite a while'' before the could be evacuated.

Officials said it took the rescue team around an hour to reach the victims in the cave, which was 30 metres underground. 

The students, who were part of their university's nature club, entered the cave when conditions were favourable. But one of the group involved with the rescue said there was a sudden and unexpected downpour. 

Flood water then rushed into the cave ''lake a waterfall'' trapping those inside.

The students from Singaperbangsa Karawang University were all part of a club Unsika Nature Lovers Society. Some of the members went to the Lele Cave in the Pangakalan district of Karawang state to learn basic cave exploration.

Search and rescue team head Deden Ridwanshah said they were able to retrieve five students alive from the cave, but unfortunately, three of them did not survive due to lack of oxygen. They were named as Erisa Rifan and Alief Rindu, both under the School of Teacher Training and Education and Ainan Fatimatuzahro who was a medical student.

The team recovered the dead bodies on Monday morning.

Several regions in Indonesia have been flooded since the start of the rainy season in late November.