Five, including four minor girls, die after drowning in lake in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvannamalai

Police said the victims include three sisters, aged between 13 and 16; the caretaker of the Children Home for Girls; and another girl from the school, aged 16.

A woman and four minor girls, including three sisters, drowned in a lake in Tamil Nadu's temple town of Tiruvannamalai late on Monday evening.

Police said the victims include three sisters, aged between 13 and 16; the caretaker of the government-run Children Home for Girls, identified as 29-year-old Thenmozhi; and another girl from the school, aged 16.

According to police, the three sisters, living in the Children Home for Girls, had gone to their home in nearby Karapattu village to celebrate the Deepavali festival. The victims returned to Tiruvannamalai on Monday afternoon.

As Monday was declared a holiday by the district administration, the victims, along with the caretaker, went to the lake located near the Children Home for Girls, where they allegedly drowned in the lake without being aware of how deep it was, police said.

Police officials said that due to heavy rain in the district over the last few days, the water level in the lake has increased.

The bodies of the victims were pulled out of the lake and have been sent to the district government hospital for an autopsy.

A case has been booked, and an investigation is underway to determine whether the girls went to the lake after obtaining the necessary permissions or went on their own, an official said.

Further investigation was ongoing, the official added.