Varaprasatham (52), an agricultural coolie from Veerakurichi near Pattukkottai in Thanjavur district has been residing in a thatched roofed house along with his wife Mary (45), daughters Udaya (20) and Nivetha (18). Since it was raining severely on Thursday, both Varaprasatham and Udaya went to sleep in the house of his brother Antony Samy, their adjacent house while Mary and Nivetha were sleeping in their house. 

Around 2 am on Friday, the wall of the Antony Samy’s house collapsed after it was soaked in the continuous rain and fell onto the thatched roofed house of Varaprasatham in which both Mary and Nivetha were crushed to death. 

On information, the Fire and Rescue Service team rushed to the spot and retrieved the bodies with the support of the neighbours and sent them to the Pattukkottai GH. 

Pattukkottai police registered a case and are investigating. The Revenue Department officials also visited the spot and conducted an inquiry. It may be noted that the rain has been continuing in Thanjavur for the past few weeks and the district administration has been sounding alerts to the public to moving to safer places. 

Meanwhile, P Appasamy (55) a farmer from Panaveli village near Thanjavur went to take bath at Vettaru on Friday afternoon. Accidently, he went to the deeper part of the river and was washed away. On hearing the screams of Appasamy, neighbours attempted to rescue him but in vain. Soon, information was passed on to Tiruvaiyaru Fire and Rescue team who rushed to the spot and were searching for the missing Appasamy. After an intensive search, the team located the body of Appasamy trapped in vegetation. The body was later sent to Thanjavur Medical College Hospital. Further investigations are on.