COIMBATORE: An 18-year-old devotee from Thoothukudi died after he slipped and hit a rock at the seventh hill of Velliangiri Hill on Friday evening.
The deceased was identified as P Buvanesh of Thalamuthu Nagar near Mappillaiurani in Thoothukudi district. Buvanesh worked as a mason in his native.
Buvanesh and his friends Muthukumar (18) and Hariharasudhan (19) visited the temple, and were returning to the foothills when the incident occured.
While his friends were walking over the grass, Buvanesh was walking on the slope terrain (soil), a slippery area. While devotees use bamboo sticks to gain balance while walking this path, Buvanesh reportedly lost control and slipped. He rolled down, hit a rock and sustained severe injuries.
Alandurai police sources said the incident could have occurred between 6pm to 7pm. Based on information from devotees, Boluvampatti forest range staff engaged dolly workers and took Buvanesh's body to the foothills at 8am on Saturday.
"The postmortem was carried out on Saturday afternoon and the body was handed over to his relatives on Saturday evening. We do not suspect any foul play since his friends witnessed the incident, and he died on the spot after he bled from his left ear following severe injury to his head," said a police officer from Alandurai police station.
This is the second devotee death on Velliangiri Hill so far this year.