Eight persons, including seven children, drowned in three different incidents in the state on Thursday. Another person is missing.
In Nilambur, five children drowned in the Chaliyar at Modavanna Kadavu around 4 p.m. They were relatives and identified as Jinu, 15, Jaini, 11, children of Vazhuthakkattil Mathew and Philomena of Vazhavatta in Wayanad, and Amal, 10, Ajai, 9 and Aleena, 13, children of Vinu and Nisa of Athikadu in Nilambur.
Mathew and family had gone to Vinu’s house for a marriage on Sunday.
The children had gone to bathe in the river. Police said that Amal fell into the water and Philomena jumped into the river to save the child. In the commotion that followed, the other children too jumped to rescue the kid leading to the disaster.
Locals and fire force personnel rushed to the scene and fished out four bodies in 20 minutes while the last was got after an hour. The bodies were handed over to the parents.