CHENNAI: A family outing took a tragic turn on Sunday evening when a 39-year-old man and his two daughters were swept away in sea off Sularikadu Kuppam beach near Mamallapuram.
The deceased has been identified as Venkatesan, a resident of Agaram near Perambur. He, along with 17 of his relatives, had embarked on a day-long trip along the East Coast Road. After visiting the Tirupporur Murugan temple in the evening, the group proceeded towards Mamallapuram and stopped at Sularikadu Kuppam beach around 5.30 pm.
Despite repeated warnings from fishermen about the dangerous sea condition, the family entered the sea, and Venkatesan, his daughters Karthika (17) and Thulasi (16), and his elder sister Hemavathi (40) got caught in the waves.
The alert fishermen rushed to their aid and managed to rescue Hemavathi, who was immediately admitted to a private hospital. On Monday morning, Venkatesan’s body was recovered from the shore and sent to Chengalpattu Government Hospital for postmortem. Search operations for Karthika and Thulasi are ongoing. The Mamallapuram police have registered a case under the BNS Act, 194, along with sections related to missing persons.