TIRUCHY: In an unfortunate turn of events, four youths drowned in Cauvery's tributary Putharu in Tiruvarur while taking a bath on Monday.

The four men were identified as S Manikandan (33) of Kudavasal, A Manivel (23) of Tiruneelakudi, P Jayakumar (32) of Athambar village, and R Hariharan (30) visited the Putharu at Keezhkudi near Nannilam to take a bath.

One of the men accidentally waded into the deeper area of the river and got caught in the current. As he struggled to get away, the other three men swam to rescue him but were washed away by the strong currents, leading them to drown.

People nearby rushed to rescue the quartet, but could not save them. They retrieved three bodies while the Nannilam fire personnel recovered the fourth body.

All the bodies were sent to the Nannilam GH for post-mortem. The Nannilam police registered a case and are investigating.