5 young men drown while performing ritual in Chennai temple pond

Five young men, part of a group that performed a seasonal temple ritual in a pond, drowned in Chennai on Wednesday, police said. According to Tamil media reports, the men, who were schoolmates earlier, drowned at the Dharmaralingeswarar Temple in Palavanthangal, Chennai.

The accident occurred when priests and volunteers entered the pond and formed a circle as part of a ritual and at that time, a person who was part of the group drowned. When four others tried to rescue him, they too went under water, they said.

Senior revenue and police officials arrived and the bodies were fished out by Fire and Rescue Services personnel and taken to Chrompet government hospital for autopsy.

Chennai Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal inspected the accident spot and told reporters that the victims were in the age group of 18-25 and steps would be taken to prevent such accidents in coordination with local civic authorities.

The accident occurred when a ritual was performed by priests who carried an idol, he said.

With agency inputs