KANYAKUMARI: Five students and interns of
SRM Medical College Hospital
and Trichy Govt Medical College Hospital, vacationing in Kanyakumari, drowned in the sea off
Lemur beach
on Monday due to a swell surge, a phenomenon
India Meteorological Department
(IMD) has issued a warning for the southern Tamil Nadu coast. Three others who were part of the group were rescued and admitted to hospital.
Seven of the
medicos
were from various parts of Tamil Nadu while one was from Andhra Pradesh.
They went to Kanyakumari on Sunday for a wedding.
The deceased have been identified as P Sarvadarshith, 23, of Parakkai in Kanyakumari district, M Praveen Sam, 23, of Oddanchatram in Dindigul district, B Gayathiri, 25, of Neyveli, Venkatesh, 24, of Andhra Pradesh, and D Charukavi, 23, of Thanjavur.
On Monday morning, they headed to Thirparappu falls, and later to Lemur beach. While they were playing on the beach, a massive wave swept them away into the sea.
These giant waves are no joke
Kanyakumari is no Nazare, where swell waves can get as big as 86ft (that’s an eight-storey building!). The Portuguese town is notorious for having giant waves, thanks to an undersea canyon off its coast.
But swells don’t have to be that huge to flood coastlines and displace families. In Kanyakumari’s case, it has claimed five young lives.
A group of medicos were playing in the water when a swell wave pulled them in.
Fishermen, who heard the commotion, rushed to their aid and managed to rescue three students, who were taken to Govt Medical College Hospital in Asaripallam, where one remains critical. The other bodies were recovered and sent for autopsy.
IMD has issued a warning on swell surges, sudden massive waves called ‘kalla kadal’ in the local dialect. Kanyakumari SP E Sundaravadanam said district administration had issued a warning against visiting the beach, but the students ignored it.
CM Stalin condoled the deaths and directed the administration to provide the best medical care to survivors.
The swell surge had claimed three other lives in Kanyakumari district in the past three days. Six of a 20-member team from Chennai was watching the waves from a groyne at Kodimunai on Sunday, when a sudden wave swept them away. Fishermen saved four, two drowned.
The same day, a man and his sevenyear-old daughter were washed away while playing on the Thengapattinam beach. Fishermen managed to save the father, but the girl’s body was recovered on Monday morning.
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