2 bodies recovered from canal

Coimbatore: Two days after three members of a family washed away in the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) canal near Palladam in Tirupur district, fire and rescue services personnel retrieved the remaining two dead bodies, which were found floating some 15km away from the accident spot, on Thursday.
An official confirmed that the bodies of Sethupathi, 23, of 15 Velampalayam, and his sister-in-law Saranya, 12, of Pulliampatti village near Dharapuram, were retrieved on the day.
On Wednesday afternoon, fire and rescue services personnel had retrieved the body of Sethupathi’s 18-year-old wife Devi.
The official said it was Saranya’s birthday on Tuesday and the trio had gone to a temple near the PAP canal at Kattoor to celebrate the occasion in the evening.
“After offering prayers, Sethupathi entered the canal to take a dip. Meanwhile, Saranya accidentally fell into the canal and washed away. Devi jumped in to rescue her sister, but she couldn’t withstand the strong water current. The fate that awaited Sethupathi wasn’t any different as he tried to rescue the duo,” the official said.
Fire and rescue services personnel at Palladam were alerted about the incident at 7pm and they reached the spot around 8pm. They searched the canal for the trio for a 5km stretch, but in vain.
On Wednesday afternoon, Devi’s body was found floating on the water at least 1.5km away from the accident spot.
On Thursday morning, fire and rescue services personnel found the remaining two dead bodies, which were sent to the Palladam government hospital for postmortem.
Deputy superintendent of police (Palladam sub-division) K C Ramachandran and the Kamanaickenpalalayam police visited the spot. Police have registered a case under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Further investigation is on.