Four School students from same neighbourhood found dead in Thiruneermalai lake

CHENNAI: Four schoolchildren - two boys and two girls from the same neighbourhood who went missing from their homes in Chromepet since Saturday (October 3) afternoon were found dead in the Thiruneermalai lake on Sunday (October 4).

Police said the victims were from Lakshmipuram, Krishna Street, in Chromepet and were friends and neighbours.

The deceased children have been identified as K Devadarshan (12), D Yuvanesh (10), Pooja (13) and Khushi (13). Devadarshan was studying class 7 at a government school while the girls were class 8 students at the government school. Yuvanesh was a class 6 student at a private school.

On Saturday, The four children were seen playing together near their houses in the afternoon. Later, they left the area and did not return home till late night.

Parents of the children had initially searched on their own among relatives and friends and circulated messages with photos in local WhatsApp groups, requesting residents to inform them if the children were seen.

After the efforts yielded no results, the parents of the boys lodged a missing complaint with the Chromepet Police Station late Saturday night.

Chromepet Police alerted their counterparts in Tambaram, Egmore, Chennai Central railway stations and in the Kelambakkam bus terminus to check if the students travelled out of station.

On Sunday around 10 a.m., members of the public who had gone to the Thiruneermalai Periya Eri near Lakshmipuram noticed four bodies floating in the water and alerted the authorities.

Police along with rescue personnel from Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) department retrieved the bodies and brought them to the shore.

Family members of the deceased children identified their bodies after which the bodies were sent to the the Tambaram District Government Hospital mortuary for post-mortem examination.

Police are enquiring how the children reached the lake. Police suspect the children to have got trapped in the slush and drowned.