Pune News
Five Family Members from Pune Drown at Lonavala Waterfall
Tragedy struck on Sunday afternoon as four members of a family, including three children, drowned in a waterfall behind the Bhushi Dam in Lonavala. The search operation for their missing relative, a four-year-old child, continued until Monday evening when the police recovered the fifth body.The family, hailing from Hadapsar area in Pune, had gone to Lonavala for a picnic. The Pune rural police, along with INS Shivaji and members of the “Shivdurg Mitra Mandal,” conducted a rescue operation that resulted in the discovery of three bodies: Ameena Salman alias Adil Ansari (13), her sister Umera Salman alias Adil Ansari (8), and a woman named Shahista Liyakat Ansari (37).
On Monday morning, the police found the body of Mariya Akil Sayyad (9), and by evening, they recovered the body of Adnan Sabhahat. All the deceased individuals were residents of Sayyad Nagar area in Hadapsar, as confirmed by the police.According to the authorities, around 18 people from the families of Liyakat Ansari and Yunus Khan had come to Lonavala for a picnic. They visited a waterfall situated in the interiors behind the Bhushi Dam. Initially, the water flow was relatively low, but due to heavy rainfall, the waterfall stream gained momentum, resulting in a tragic incident around 3 pm. Ten tourists were swept away by the sudden surge in water.While five of them were rescued, the remaining five were swept into the reservoir connected to the dam.
Despite the efforts of the police on duty and local residents, the strong water currents made it impossible to salvage the victims in time.Inspector Suhas Jagtap of the Lonavala city police station stated, “The deceased and their relatives, some of whom are residents of Pune, had come to Lonavala in a private vehicle for a picnic. Some of them were playing in the water stream when the flow of water increased suddenly, resulting in their being swept away.”
The bodies of the three deceased individuals were taken to a hospital for postmortem. A video supposedly showing the victims being carried away by the powerful waterfall stream has surfaced on social media.Authorities have pointed out that the location of the incident falls under the jurisdiction of the Indian Railways and Forest Department.
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