SALEM: Five members of two families drowned in the Cauvery river in Mettur on Sunday. According to the Mettur police, Saravanan (35), of Vijayamangalam in Erode district, a powerloom worker and his wife Mythili (32), their son Hariharan (9) went to their relative Gopal’s house at Mettur on Saturday. Thereafter, they along with Gopal’s daughters Dhanusri (19), Vanisri (20) and their relative Raveena (15) went to Reddiyur near Mettur on Sunday.
Though the police had issued a flood warning, they went to take bath in the Cauvery river and went deep into the river.
As 20,000 cusecs of water was released from the dam, water flow was high in the river and they were unable to swim, they got trapped. The other tourists present there tried to help them, but could only save Dhanusri. The remaining five persons reportedly drowned. Following this, Mettur police and fire and rescue service department officials rushed to the spot.
Till evening, the fire fighters were only able to fish out bodies of Saravanan, Mythili, Vanisri and Raveena. Search is still on for Hariharan’s body. On information, Collector Rohini Bhajibhakare came to the spot.
Police sources said that the spot was near to a water pumping station. To save more water in the locality, pits were dug and as a result, the area was comparatively deep. Unaware of this, the family members went into that part of the river and got drowned.