Coimbatore: A 42-year-old doctor and his 11-year-old son drowned while taking bath in Amaravathi river near Kadathur in Tirupur district on Friday afternoon.
The deceased were identified as N Jothilingam, 42, a native of Amanalingampillai Street at Kaniyur near Udumalpet and his son J Sarveshwar Raja, 11. Police said Jothilingam was working as a doctor at the Rajiv Gandhi government general hospital in Chennai and his son was studying Class VII in a private school in Chennai.
Police said Jothilingam came to his home town Kaniyur near Udumalpet from Chennai along with his daughter J Srinikha, 14, and Sarveshwar Raja on Wednesday. On Friday around 2pm, Jothilingam and his son Sarveshwar went to Amaravathi river to take bath. Srinikha and her relative Arun Prakash, 12, were taking photographs using mobile phones on the river bund.
Unable to withstand the water current, Sarveshwar Raja drowned in the river. Jothilingam was washed away when he tried to save his son.
Srinika and Arun Prakash informed the locals who in turn alerted the Kaniyur police and Udumalpet fire and rescue services personnel. The dead bodies were retrieved from the river and sent to the Udumalpet government hospital for postmortem. The Kaniyur police registered a case and further investigation is on. The bodies will be handed over to the relatives on Saturday.