CHENNAI: Three children, aged 13, 12 and 10, drowned while they were playing in the sea off Ennore on Sunday evening; four more were rescued.
The deceased were identified as Rudra, 13, Alex 12, and Vicky, 10. Police said Alex was the son of fisherman David of Nettukuppam in Ennore and the two others were the children of his relatives, who are residents of Neelankarai.
Since there is a wedding planned in David's family, many of his relatives visited him on Sunday to attend a function that evening. When some of the children expressed their wish to visit the beach, which was their routine whenever they visited Nettukuppam, David obliged. He took the children, including his son Alex, to the beach in Ennore in the afternoon. While all the seven children were playing in the sea, David was on the shore asking them not to step further into the sea as the waves were growing stronger.
He, however, was distracted for a few minutes when he got a call on his mobile phone. While he was on the call, David saw the children struggling in the sea and rushed to rescue them.
All the seven were washed away, but David managed to pull four -- Rupa Chandra, 16, Isravel, 15, Jose, 14, Benjamin, 12, -- safely into the shore. The waves, however, pulled three into the sea. Hearing David's cries for help, fishermen who were at sea nearby too joined the rescue efforts. Even as they were searching for the children, bodies of Alex and Rudra washed ashore.
On information, personnel from Ennore police station and fire station reached the spot and launched a search for missing Vicky. When night fell, the rescue operation was suspended and taken up in the morning.
On Monday afternoon, Vicky's body too was washed ashore. Ennore police have registered a case of accidental death and launched an investigation.
Police said that David couldn't manage all the children as he was the only adult with them at that time. "Since all of them were washed away, he struggled to rescue them and could pull to safety only four," said an investigating officer.
