TIRUVANNAMALAI: A woman and four girls drowned in a lake in this temple town on Monday evening, police said, after heavy rain in the district raised the water level.
The dead include three sisters aged between 13 and 16, the 24-year-old caretaker of a government-run children's home for girls where they lived, and another 16-year-old girl from the same home. The victims were identified as sisters Vijayalakshmi (15), Alli (14) and Bhoomika (13), their friend Valliammal (16), and hostel nurse Thenmozhi (24).
Police said the three sisters, residents of the home, had gone to their family's village nearby to celebrate Deepavali and returned to Tiruvannamalai on Monday afternoon. As the district administration had declared a holiday, they went to the lake near the home along with the caretaker. They are believed to have entered the water unaware of its depth.
Bodies were pulled out and sent to the district government hospital for post-mortem. A case has been registered, and police said they are investigating whether the group had permission to go to the lake or went on its own.
(With inputs from media reports)