CHENNAI: In a tragic incident, four women, including two teenage girls, were drowned in a lake at Veppur village near Gudiyatham town in Vellore on Saturday evening.

The deceased had gone for a bath in the lake when the tragedy occurred, police said.

The deceased were identified as S Saroja (45) and her daughter S Lalitha (22), a graduate, Y Kaviya (18), who was a first-year college student and her younger sister Y Preethi (17), a Class XII student.

Kaviya and Preethi, along with their mother Y Lavanya(45), had gone to visit the Muniswaran temple in Veppur village.

After offering worship, they decided to take a bath in the lake situated on the rear side of the temple.

While Lavanya stayed away as she was holding her relative’s child, the other four women, who did not know swimming, entered the lake for a bath. However, they were dragged into the centre of the lake as the bund was slippery.

Sensing trouble, Lavanya cried for help and locals rushed to the spot to save them and also alerted the fire services department officials, who fished out the bodies after search operations that lasted more than an hour.

The bodies of the deceased were sent to the Government Medical College Hospital in Vellore.

A pall of gloom descended in Gudiyattam town from where the victims hailed.