5 of family from Pune swept away near dam in Lonavala

The bodies of a 36-year-old woman and two girls, aged 13 and 8, were found in the backwater of Bhushi Dam in Lonavala on Sunday. A search is ongoing for a nine-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl.

The victims have been identified as Sahista Liyaqat Ansari, 36, Amima Salman, 13, Umera Salman, 8, Adnan Ansari, 4, and Maria Ansari, 9.

The five family members were washed away on Sunday afternoon due to a sudden rise in water levels at the popular tourist destination. Continuous rain over the last few days caused a sudden increase in the water flow at the waterfall where the family had stopped.

Ten people got trapped in the water flow. Five managed to escape, but five were swept away in the strong current. The incident occurred at 1:30 p.m., when the Ansari family visited Bhushi Dam.

Police were informed, and search and rescue teams quickly arrived at the scene. They recovered the bodies of the woman and two girls, while efforts continue to locate the missing children.

POLICE’S APPEAL TO TOURISTS

Senior Police Inspector Suhas Jagtap of Lonavala Police Station urged tourists to avoid unknown places during the rainy season to prevent risking their lives. He appealed for cooperation with the police administration in the Bhushi Dam area, as well as at the lake, Tata Dam, Tungarli Dam, and Rajmachi Point.

Earlier in a similar incident that occurred in April, five students, including three women, drowned at the confluence of the river Cauvery in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district, police said.

The incident took place when the students were enjoying swimming in the afternoon. The victims were among the 12 students who had come from Bengaluru to Mekedatu in Kanakapura taluk of the district, police said.

All of them were from an engineering college in Bengaluru.