CHENNAI: A 25-year-old man, who tried to catch his phone that slipped out of his hand, drowned in a water-filled quarry near Somangalam on Wednesday.

Jayaraman of Tiruvannamalai, staff of a construction firm, was staying in a rented house in Erumaiyur near Somangalam. On Tuesday evening, he went to a stone quarry in the locality.

As he was talking over the phone, it slipped from his hand and fell inside the 300-foot-deep quarry. Without realising the danger, Jayaraman reflexively tried to catch it only to lose balance and fall into the water.

The onlookers immediately alerted the police and the rescue team, following which a team from Tambaram rushed to the spot. However, it had become very dark by then and the personnel could not proceed with the rescue operations.

The search operation resumed on Wednesday morning during which the personnel pulled out Jayaraman’s body from the water and sent it for post-mortem examination to the Chromepet GH.

The Somangalam police have registered a case and further inquiry is on.