Thiruvananthapuram
At least three leisure travellers drowned in fast-flowing river Kallar on the Mahanavami holiday on Tuesday.
The police identified the deceased as Special Armed Police (SAP) constable Firoz, 30, his brother, Javed, 35 and their nephew Sahwan, 16.
Kallar is a favoured tourist spot at the base of the Western Ghats ranges. It is about 60 km from Thiruvananthapuram city.
According to police, the deceased were part of an eight-member family tour group from coastal Beemapally.
The group was bound for Ponmudi, a scenic and misty holiday destination at least 13 km uphill from Kallar.
However, a part of the ascending switchback road to the hill station had collapsed, forcing the leisure travellers to turn back and picnic at Kallar. Ponmudi remained isolated.
The police believe the accident occurred when the visitors ignored warning boards and scaled a barricade to enter the creek for a dip. The tragedy reportedly unfolded when the current swept away a 20-year-old woman in the group.
Her relatives reportedly drowned as they battled the flowing waters to rescue her. Residents familiar with the river at Vattakayam hauled six persons ashore, but three died on their way to the hospital. The other three were in medically precarious condition.
The Tourism department had placed warning boards following similar drowning deaths at Vattakayam. Over the years, several holidayers from the city have died in flashfloods and streams in the Kallar-Ponmudi locality. Slippery rocks, rapids and deep pools characterise the wooded locality.
