An 80-foot deep farm well turned into a watery grave for a 15 year-old boy, who drowned after an omni van in which he was sitting plunged into it in Anganavalasai village on the outskirts of Tirupattur on Wednesday.
The deceased was identified as Kumaresan, son of Sampath and resident of Anganavalasai. He was studying in Class X in Tirupur and had come to the village for Deepavali. Kumaresan’s relatives Silambarasan (21), who was behind the wheels of the vehicle, and Suresh (26) escaped with minor injuries, said police attached to the Tirupattur Taluk Police Station.
“Suresh’s friend Mani came to meet him in his omni van. After reaching the village, he went to meet Suresh’s family. Silambarasan took the van’s key and tried to drive it. Kumaresan and Suresh also got into the vehicle,” Ravichandran, Jolarpet Inspector of Police said.
The ill-fated incident took place at 10.30 am when Silambarasan apparently wanted to take the van for a jolly ride. While Kumaresan sat in the back seat, Suresh occupied the front seat. Within a minute, he applied reverse gear instead of first gear and the van plunged into the well, which didnot not have parapet wall. The well had more than 50 feet water, said the fire service personnel.
Silambarasan and Suresh managed to come out through the front doors, while Kumaresan drowned. The fire service personnel rushed to the spot and swung into action.
The fire service personnel pumped out more than 25 feet water using motor pumps and used a crane to lift the vehicle. However, the iron rope could not hold on to the vehicle as the vehicle was fully into the water. The efforts to fish out Kumaresan’s body also failed as the doors of the van were jammed, said Venkatesan Station Fire Officer of Tirupattur.
“After pumping out 25 feet of water, we lifted the car using a crane above the water level. Three of our personnel got onto the vehicle and we managed to recover the boy’s body at 7.10 pm,” he said.
After half an hour, the fire service personnel pulled out the vehicle at 7.40 pm. Police said that they would conduct an enquiry into the incident.