THOOTHUKUDI: Three teenage boys drowned in the sea at Mottagopuram beach near Thalamuthunagar on Monday evening, after being caught in strong waves while bathing, police said. The bodies were retrieved by personnel of the Tharuvaikulam Coastal Security Group (CSG) and sent to the Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital for postmortem.
The deceased were identified as A Naren Sri Karthick (13) of Zahir Hussain Nagar, V Thirumani (14) and K Mugendran (12), both residents of Geetha Jeevan Nagar. Thirumani was a Class 9 student, Naren Sri Karthick was in Class 8, and Mugendran was in Class 6, sources said.
According to sources, nine boys had gone to the beach on Monday afternoon to play. After the game, they entered the sea to bathe, when one of them was first caught in the waves and began struggling.
A fisherman nearby managed to rescue him. Soon after, three other boys were swept away by the rising tide and strong waves, and attempts by onlookers to save them failed, sources said.
Around 5.15 pm, the Thalamuthunagar police got an information that three boys had drowned, and subsequently marine police personnel were rushed to the beach.
A police officer involved in the rescue operation said the boy who was initially rescued is safe, while the remaining five boys managed to return to shore. “The trio was caught in the strong waves as water level had risen by evening,” the officer said.