Four children meet watery grave

MADURAI

Four children, aged between six and 12, drowned in a tank in Ananjiyur village near Sakkudi here on Thursday afternoon, police sources said.

They were identified as S. Subashini (8), her brother S. Kishore (12), M. Bharat Surya (12) and his sister M. Amuthakavi (6).

According to the police, Subashini was under the care of her relative Rengasamy in Ananjiyur. Kishore and the other two siblings, all of whom were related, were residing in Achampathu village. They came to Ananjiyur a few days back in view of a festival at the local temple.

On Thursday afternoon, they went to the tank reportedly to fetch water for watering the plants near their house, the police said.

An official from Silaiman police station said one of them must have accidentally fell into the water and drowned. The others might have tried to the rescue the child and subsequently drowned. “The post-mortem to be done on Friday can give a clearer picture,” he said.

The parents and relatives of the children searched for them in vain. Later, some residents of the village spotted the bodies through the dress of one of the children floating in the tank, the police said.

The bodies were recovered from the tank by the local people with the help of the police. They were taken to Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai for post-mortem. Silaiman police have registered a case.

In a statement issued following the tragic incident, Superintendent of Police N. Manivannan said many children must be at their native villages on summer vacation, and the parents had to be watchful of their wards. They should not allow them to go alone to tanks, ponds or stagnant water in abandoned quarries.