Five house surgeons of a private medical college in Tiruchi, drowned off Lemur Beach in Kanniyakumari district on Monday, May 6, 2024, after a giant wave washed them away into the sea.
Police said a team of 12 house surgeons from the college had come to Nagercoil to attend the wedding of the elder brother of one of them. After attending the wedding on Sunday, May 5, they went to Lemur Beach, which falls under the Rajakkalmangalam police station limits. Following their beach visit, they were due to leave for Tiruchi.
Since the sea was unusually rough on Monday, seven of them were standing at the shoreline, while the others were sitting a little distance away from the sea. When a giant wave swept those standing by the sea away, the other panicked students raised an alarm and called for help.
Local fishermen immediately began a rescue operation, and S. Neshi, 24, of Karur and R. Preethi Priyanka, 23, of Periyakulam in Theni distirct were saved. However, P. Sarvadharshith, 23, Parakkai, Kanniyakumari district, M. Praveen Sam, 23, of Oddenchathram in Dindigul district, B. Gayathri, 25, of Neyveli, D. Charukavi, 23, of Thanjavur and Venkatesh, 24, of Andhra Pradesh all drowned.
The police and the the fire and rescue services personnel also arrived at the spot and rushed Neshi and Preethi Priyanka to the Kanniyakumari District Government Medical College Hospital in Aasaaripallam. The rescuers also retrieved the bodies of the drowned students and sent them for post-mortems.
Another student S. Saranya, 24, of Madurai, who witnessed the tragedy while seated at the beach fell unconscious and is under observation in the medical college hospital.
The National Disaster Management and Research Centre had issued a ‘Red Alert’ warning on Saturday, May 4, forecasting that the sea would be unusually rough for three or four days in Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari districts and had advised the public against going into the water.
A police officer said three more deaths were reported due to drowning in the sea on Sunday. While J. Manoj Kumar, 25, and T. Vijus, both from Chennai, drowned at Kodimunai beach, P. Adhisha, 7, of Karungal in Kanniyakumari district drowned in Thaengaaipattinam beach while she was with her father.