VELLORE: As rains lashed Vellore district, a five-year-old boy was washed away by the flooded Uthirakaveri River in the limits of Veppankuppam police station here on Friday. According to police sources, Rithik Roshan (5), slipped into the river right before his mother’s eyes at around 1.30 pm on Friday. Pavithra (28), Rithik’s mother, stood helplessly with her two-year-old daughter in her arms, as she watched her son getting washed away in the running water, added the sources.
The Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) personnel immediately launched a search operation. On Saturday morning, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) joined the operation and are continuing the search, which has gone past 24 hours. Meanwhile, Veppankuppam police has initiated a probe into the matter.
In another rain-related incident, a 73-year-old woman died due to a wall collapse at Melvisharam in Ranipet. Gnanamani (73) was asleep inside her tiled-roof house when the incident happened at 12.30 am on Saturday. Incessant rains could have caused the structure to loosen, resulting in its collapse, said police sources. Gnanamani was rescued and taken to Walajah District Headquarters hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.
A case was registered under section 174 (death due to wall collapse) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Later in the day, Minister for Handlooms and Textiles R Gandhi and Collector D Baskara Pandian visited her family members and paid homage to them.