COIMBATORE: A 22-year-old man collapsed while trekking Velliangiri hills on Sunday. He was taken to at the PHC at Poolvappatty but died without responding to treatment in the evening.
The deceased, R Kiran, a native of Nilgiris who was staying at Lakshmi Nagar Veerapandi near Periyanaciekenpalayam.
The forest department staff got the information about Kiran falling sick at 2pm in the sixth hill. A team brought him to the foothills in a dholli with the help of workers.
“We suspect he died due to breathing difficulties. The scorching heat may be another reason. Due to lack of communication, since it was a forest area, we got information about his condition at 2pm. Kiran’s health was fine until he reached the foothills. His condition deteriorated in the hospital and he died without responding to treatment,” said a forest department official
“Though thousands of people trekked the seven hills, only three fell sick in the last one week. Two of them were brought to the foothill and treated. Unfortunately, Kiran died,” he added
This is the second death of devotees who were trekking the Velliangiri mountain the last one and half month. Unlike last year, there was a less crowd of devotees on this year’s Sivarathiri festival as the Velliangiri hill was opened to public based on the Madras High Court order on February 9. As on Sunday, more than 53,000 devotees visited the temple.