Family of four, from Tirupattur, washed away in Chhattisgarh floods

A pall of gloom descended at Parandapalli village near Jolarpet town in Tirupattur district on Thursday after a family of four persons, including two girls, natives of the village, were washed away in flash floods that was triggered by incessant rains in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh the previous day.

The deceased were identified as Rajesh Kumar, 45, R. Pavithra, 38, R. Soundiriya, 8, and R. Sowmika, 6. Mr. Kumar was a civil engineer and was working in a firm near Raipur for nearly 15 years. He was living with his family in Chhattisgarh.

Initial inquiry revealed that Mr. Kumar and his family members were on their way to attend a wedding at Tirupathi in Andhra Pradesh in a car with their driver, Lala Yadu. The vehicle was swept away while crossing a flooded culvert across the Indravati River. Except for the driver, who managed to cling to a tree branch and was rescued later, all four members of the family drowned in the river. Later, State Disaster Response Force personnel retrieved the bodies from the river.