A visit to a waterfront on Sunday turned tragic for seven girls in the age group of 10 to 18 years, who drowned in a deep pit near a check dam built across the River Gedilam in Cuddalore district in north Tamil Nadu.
The deceased included two sisters, Divyadarshini (10) and Priyadarshini (15). All the victims, including four girls aged 18 and one aged 16, belonged to a village A Kuchipalayam.
According to the police, around noon, the girls had gone near a pit filled with water a few hundred metres away from the check dam to take a dip. A short while later, they unknowingly ventured into a deeper region when two girls struggled and screamed for help. As the others girls rushed to their help, they too lost control and drowned.
Upon being alerted by the locals, the Fire and Rescue Services personnel arrived at the spot and managed to fish out seven bodies by late afternoon and sent them to a government hospital for postmortem.
Agriculture Minister MRK Panneerselvam, who hails from the district, visited the hospital and consoled the family members of the deceased girls.
Locals complained that no warning boards were placed in the region cautioning people about the depth of the pits. Condoling the girls’ deaths, Chief Minister M K Stalin announced a solatium of Rs 5 lakh to kin of each deceased.
