The visual showed the level of the waterfall rising and water gushing out vigorously.
The visual showed the level of the waterfall rising and water gushing out vigorously.
A 16-year-old boy died after being washed away in flash floods that hit the Old Courtallam Waterfalls in Tamil Nadu's Tenkasi district on Friday. The incident happened in the evening when several people were bathing in the waterfall. The flash floods took them by surprise after water began to gush out as the level of the waterfall rose.

A search operation was launched to find the missing teenager. A few hours later, his body was recovered from between rocks, a few metres away from the waterfall.

The teenager had gone to the waterfall with his relatives to take a dip.

Visuals showed people running out of the waterfall frantically as its level began swelling.


Following the incident, senior officials from the Tenkasi district administration went to the spot to take cognisance of the situation. The administration has also cordoned off entry to the waterfall following heavy rainfall in and around the region.

Meanwhile, the torrential downpour in the Nilgiris on Friday prompted the district administration to ask tourists to delay their holiday plans till May 20. They said very heavy rainfall is on the cards between May 18 and 20 and asked people to "avoid" visiting the hilly tourist destination during this period, news agency PTI reported.

District Collector M Aruna said the India Meteorological Department has issued an 'orange alert' forecast.

Around 3,500 disaster response personnel and required equipment have been kept on standby. Nearly 250 temporary shelters have also been kept ready and people have also been asked to stay indoors.

Meanwhile, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Chennai, has predicted more showers in Tamil Nadu, Karaikal and Puducherry during the next five days. The bulletin said that heavy to very heavy rain is likely in Tenkasi, Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Ramanathapuram, Madurai, and Thoothukudi, among other districts.