Sudden thundershowers that lashed the city on Wednesday afternoon claimed two lives in separate incidents.
A construction worker was buried in mud and a teenager allegedly died of shock on the sands of the Marina when lighting stuck.
Police said the first incident took place around 4.30 p.m. on Erukanchery High Road in Vyasarpadi, where over 15 men were re-laying a sewage pipeline.
As they had dug into the ground to remove the old pipeline, there was a huge pile of mud near them. Because of the rain, the mud had become damp, and a portion of it collapsed on a few of the construction workers.
While the others managed to escape, a contract labourer Babu (40), who was a native of Salem, was trapped ten feet under the mud.
Following an hour-long rescue operation by Fire Department personnel, Babu was brought out from beneath the wet mud and was rushed to the Government Stanley Hospital, where doctors pronounced him brought dead, police added.
In another incident on the same evening, Vignesh, a 16-year-old boy from Kumbakonam, who was working in a shop selling snacks on Marina Beach opposite the TWAD board office, allegedly died due to a shock he received after thunder was heard and lighting streaked across the sky during the showers.
Shopkeepers on the beach rushed the boy to the Government Royapettah Hospital where doctors said he was also brought dead, Anna Square police said.
