VILLUPURAM: Two persons, including a class VII boy and a newly-engaged man, died and two other college students sustained severe injuries after they suffered electric shock during a temple car procession near Gingee on Friday night.
The incident occurred when the top of the car came in contact with an electric wire on the road.
According to sources, the three-day annual festival of the Vengai Nachi Amman Temple at Jeyamkondan village near Gingee began on Thursday with the car procession. The tragedy occurred on the second day of the festival, when ten persons had taken the Vengai Nachi Amman idol on a procession in a cart.
When the procession reached the Mel Edaiyalam road at Jeyamkondan village, the top portion of the car came in contact with an electric wire. Four persons, who were pulling the cart, suffered electric shock. They were immediately rushed to the Gingee Government Hospital.
The victims were identified as R Yogeshwaran (13), Rasu alias Arul Kumar (32), S Sathishkumar (20) and V Prabhakaran (22).
Yogeshwaran, a class VII student, succumbed to injuries on the way to the hospital. Rasu, whose marriage was supposed to take place on June 2, died at the hospital.
Sathishkumar and Prabhakaran, students at a private college in Chennai had come to the village for the summer vacation. Both were later shifted to the JIPMER hospital in Pondicherry.