On Friday morning, while Karunakaran was walking near the Palar river bed in Orikkai, he slipped and got washed away.

The locals who were standing on the bridge saw Karunakaran getting washed away and were clueless on how to save him. The people told Karunakaran to hold on to any tree tightly till the rescue team arrived.

But since the water was flowing at a high speed, Karunakaran was not able to swim towards the trees. 

Sources said the water level increased on Friday morning after more water was released from Vellore. The rescue team was searching for Karunakaran using boats but without much success.