4 Fishermen Electrocuted To Death At TN Church Fest; CM Stalin Announces ₹5 Lakh Relief

Chennai: Four fishermen were electrocuted to death while preparing for a Church chariot festival in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed grief over the incident that took place on Saturday and announced Rs 5 lakh each as ex-gratia for the families of the deceased.

The incident happened during the 12th day of the 13-day annual festival at St. Anthony’s Church.

The police identified the fishermen as T Vijayan (52), V Justus (40), M. alias Micheal Findo (40), and B. Shoban (45). Four of them were from Enayamputhenthurai, a coastal village near Colachel, as per media reports.

After attending a community feast (samapanthi) at the church earlier in the day, the villagers were preparing for the car procession in the evening. Just before the event, four villagers tried to move an aluminium ladder near the church. While carrying it, the ladder touched overhead power lines, and all four were electrocuted and died on the spot, sources said to India TV.

S A Mahesh, president of the All India Traditional Fishermen Association, said the car procession and mass were cancelled after the incident. He also confirmed that all four victims were fishermen and that Vijayan was a church parish functionary.

Upon receiving the information, the police arrived at the scene and sent the bodies to Kanniyakumari Government Medical College Hospital for a postmortem examination scheduled for Sunday morning. SP R Stalin visited the village, conducted an inquiry, and confirmed that the ladder touching the high-voltage power lines caused the deaths.

The investigation is ongoing.

On Sunday morning, CM MK Stalin announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to each of the families from the CM’s Public Relief Fund.