5 drown in Arthanareeswarar temple pond at Tamil Nadu's Alandur

Nearly 20 devotees took part in the idol palanquin procession of the Arthanareeswarar temple in the Madipakkam area in Tamil Nadu. When they left the palanquin on the shore for a holy dip in the pon, five of them drowned and died.

CHENNAI: At least 5 out of the 20 palanquin bearers in an idol procession died due to drowning in the temple at Alandur in Tamil Nadu. The ghastly incident took place when the processionists left the palanquin on the shore and went into the pond for a holy dip. The expert swimmers fished out the bodies of the deceased.

According to the information given by Palavanthangal police, there is a procession of the Arthanareeswarar temple in the Madipakkam area next to Alandur. On the occasion of the festival held in this temple, 20 persons carried the idol of Lord Shiva in a palanquin and went on this procession.

Subsequently, at the end of the procession, the palanquin was left on the bank of the temple pond in the Muvarasampatu area and everyone got down into the pond. At that time, five people drowned in the water and did not come out. All others are safe. Shocked by this, the local people went down to the pond and searched. The Velachery fire department has been informed.

Based on the information, the fire department personnel rushed to the spot and started searching for the five people who drowned in the pond. The bodies of the five deceased were recovered by the fire department and brought to the shore. Later, the Pazavanthangal police sent the bodies of the deceased to the government hospital for an autopsy and are investigating the incident.

In the preliminary investigation, it has been revealed that those who drowned in the pond are Surya (24) from the Nanganallur area, Raghavan (22) from the Madipakkam area, Raghavan (18) from the Nanganallur area, Yogeswaran (23) from Kilikattalai area and Panesh (20) from Nanganallur area. Police are still investigating the case.