Flooding in rivers claims four lives

Two of the victims are from Chennai

At least four persons, including a 15-year-old boy, were reportedly washed away in the last 30 hours due to floods in rivers, the police said on Sunday. In Madurai, a 10-year-old boy is missing.

P. Mutharasan and his uncle S. Paramasivam, 48, drowned in Kottakudi river near Bodi in Theni district.

Mutharasan, studying in the 10th standard, went to bathe in the river with his friends, when he allegedly drifted into a deeper portion of the waterbody and drowned.

Paramasivam, an auto driver, jumped in to save his nephew, but he too drowned.

Fire and rescue services personnel closed the shutters of the Mookarai Pillayar check dam to reduce the water flow.

At Anaipatti near Nilakottai in Dindigul district on Saturday, two brothers from Chennai — Jegan, 40, and Kumaresan, 35 — were washed away in the Vaigai.

They were on a visit to a temple here with their family members. According to the police, two women, who were caught in the river, raised an alarm.

The brothers went to their rescue but got caught in the swirling waters and drowned, while the women managed to reach the bank. “The bodies were recovered and handed over after a postmortem at the Nilakottai Government Hospital,” said Kandipan, Sub Inspector, Nilakottai Police Station.

In Madurai, a 10-year-old boy identified as Balamurugan son of Kumar of Pethaniapuram who slipped into the Vaigai on Sunday evening is suspected to have drowned. A team was searching for him.

Recent heavy rain in the catchment areas of the Periyar and Vaigai dams augmented the water level in the dam and subsequently the discharge.

On Friday evening, the water flow had risen in the Mullai, Kottakudi and Vaigai rivers. The police claimed they have installed notice boards warning them of the danger and the PWD authorities instructed people to keep off from the river banks.

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