Three students of a Veda Padasalai who went to take bath in Kollidam river at Srirangam in Tiruchi district washed away on Sunday (May 14) morning.
According to the police, S. Vishnu Prasath, 14, and S. Hari Prasath, 15, both natives of Mannargudi in Tiruvarur district, A. Gopalakrishnan, 17, a native of Villarasampatti in Erode district, and S. Abiram, 15, a native of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh, were studying at Acharyah Srimaan Bhattar Gurukulam Veda Padasalai at Melavasal in Srirangam.
On Sunday early morning, they went to take bath in Kollidam river opposite Yatri Nivas in Srirangam. Because of the increased water flow in the river, they lost control and slipped into the deep side. People in the vicinity managed to rescue Gopalakrishnan. The other three children were washed away, police said.
The Srirangam police and a team of Fire and Rescue Services Department recovered the body of Vishnu Prasath. The team also launched a search operation to find Abiram and Hari Prasath.
In a statement, Collector M. Pradeep Kumar said the 1,900 cubic feet waterflow into Kollidam river had been temporarily stopped at Mukkombu and diverted to Cauvery river to facilitate the search operation of the missing children.