Five die as boat capsises in Nagapattinam

In a tragic incident, five youths drowned in mid-sea after an overloaded boat capsized off the Vedaranyam coast in Nagapattinam district on Tuesday.

According to the police, a group of youths hailing from Arukattuthurai fishing hamlet in the district ventured into the sea to get training for a swimming competition that was scheduled to be held later in the day, as part of the "Kaanum Pongal" festival.

The boat capsized two nautical miles from the coast. The deceased have been identified as Praveen Kumar, Udayendran, Bharath, Rajamanickam and Kanishkar, all of them were aged between 18 and 25 years.

Eight others were rescued in a massive search and rescue operation carried out by the Coastal Security Group of Tamil Nadu Marine Police with the help of local fishermen. Of them, three were admitted to the government hospital at Vedaranyam, while two others were getting treatment at Tiruvarur government medical college hospital in a critical condition owing to breathing difficulty. Since the exact number of youths ferried to the sea could not be ascertained, the search operations were still continuing, police said.