In a tragic incident, five persons drowned inside a public tank in Chennai on Wednesday while performing temple rituals, police said.
According to police, when one of the persons drowned, the other four had jumped to save him but they also died.
“All five of them have died,” minister TM Anbarasan told reporters after chief minister MK Stalin had asked him to visit the spot.
“This work should have been done with due caution. This accident occurred because necessary protection was not taken”, he said.
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CM Stalin ordered a compensation of ₹2 lakh from the chief minister’s relief fund to be given to each of the deceased family members.
“We are all pained by this accident. The youngsters were students. This is an irreparable loss to parents,” the minister said.
The accident occurred in the Dharmalingeshwarar Temple pond in Chennai’s Nanganallur for the Theerthavari festival.
All those who drowned have been identified.
“I asked them (temple authorities) if they had informed the police station in advance that they were going to conduct such a festival,” the minister said.
Chennai police commissioner Shankar Jiwal said the bodies were immediately recovered and sent to the government hospital in Chrompet.
“While doing a particular ritual, one person slipped and fell into the deep end of the pond,” said Jiwal.
“We are told that those who tried to save him drowned too. We need to investigate further. Our first job here is to rescue everyone. We will discuss with the panchayat and see what can be done so that such accidents don’t occur in the future”, he said.