A 33-year-old man was washed away in the Vaigai river, after he went there for a swim with his friends on Friday, May 17, 2024.
Police said that Satish Kumar (33) of Andipatti in Theni district worked in the Department of Fire and Rescue Services, Tambaram, Chennai as a fireman-driver. He had come to his home in Theni to participate in a local temple festival.
On Thursday, May 16, he had gone with his friends to swim at a check dam near the Vaigai dam. During the swim, Satish went missing. His friends immediately informed the police, who in turn alerted the Fire and Rescue Services personnel.
As Satish could not be located on Thursday, the search operation re-commenced on Friday morning and the team finally found a body trapped between two boulders along the Vaigai river. During the search operation, water release from the reservoir had to be suspended, after the body was found, fire officers said, and added that around 20 firemen and divers were deployed for the search.
The body was sent for a post-mortem. An investigation is underway into the death.
The district administration had sounded an alert asking residents not to venture into the river due to a forecast of heavy rain. Public Works Department (PWD) engineers had also released water for irrigation for old ayacut areas from the Vaigai dam, for Sivaganga district. Hence, the discharge was heavy into the Vaigai river.
