A woman drowned while driving through a flooded underpass in the Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu on Friday, September 17. The accident took place on Friday night when C Sathiya, a doctor at a Hosur government hospital, was attempting to drive through a flooded railway underpass in Thudaiyur. Heavy rains had caused the underpass to flood to dangerous levels. Unaware of this, Sathiya, who was accompanied by her mother-in-law, drove on until the car stalled to a halt and the doors jammed shut.
DSP D Sivasubramanian of the Keeranur police, who are investigating the incident, said that at this point Sathiya phoned her husband for help who asked people in the area to go to her aid. The rescuers were able to get her injured mother-in-law out of the car, but Sathiya’s seatbelt was stuck and she drowned before it was possible to pull her out.
Both women were taken to the Pudukkottai Government Hospital, where Sathiya was declared dead on arrival. Her mother-in-law is recovering from her injuries, the DSP said.
Sathiya and her husband, an engineer, live in Hosur with their children and were visiting family in Pudukkottai. She and her mother-in-law had dropped off the children at a relative’s home and were attempting to go to Pudukkottai when the incident took place. There were no warning signs put up ahead of the underpass.
“Locals would have known to avoid the underpass after rains, but she, unfortunately, didn’t. It was also night time and the place was deserted. A lorry too was stuck in the same underpass,” the DSP said. He added that residents of the area have protested demanding a different route to cross the location and that it has been arranged.
According to the DSP, following demands from residents, the water is also being pumped out of the underpass to clear the way.