Four persons from a family, including three children, drowned in a waterfall behind the Bhushi Dam in Lonavala on Sunday afternoon. One other member of the family, a minor, was still missing till Monday morning.
According to police, the family from Hadapsar area of Pune had gone to Lonavala for picnic.
The Pune rural police along with INS Shivaji and members of the “Shivdurg Mitra Mandal” carried out a rescue operation in which three bodies were traced: Ameena Salman alias Adil Ansari (13), her sister Umera Salman alias Adil Ansari (8)and a woman Shahista Liyakat Ansari (37).
On Monday morning, the body of Mariya Akil Sayyad (9) was found by the police. However, Adnan Sabhahat Ansari (4) remained missing.
All victims are residents of Sayyad Nagar area in Hadapsar, police said.
The police stated that about 18 persons from the families of Liyakat Ansari and Yunus Khan from Hadapsar area in Pune city came to Lonavala for picnic on Sunday.
They went to the waterfall located in the interiors behind the Bhushi Dam. Police suspect initially the flow of water was less. But due to heavy rain, the waterfall stream gathered momentum due to which, ten tourists were swept away around 3 pm.
Police said that five of them were rescued, but the other five were swept away into the reservoir connecting the dam water.
Police on duty at the spot and local residents tried to help them. But the water currents became so that high that they swept into the water stream in no time.
Inspector Suhas Jagtap of Lonavala city police station said, “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. Due to it, they got swept away.”
The search operation continued on Monday morning.
The bodies of the three deceased persons were taken to a hospital for postmortem. Meanwhile, a purported video of the victims flowing away with the waterfall stream has surfaced on social media.
Police said the spot where the incident took place is in the jurisdiction of Indian Railways and Forest Department.
So, preventive steps would be taken in the region with the help of railways and forest department to avoid such incidents in future, police said.
Police have appealed to the citizens not to enter dangerous spots while enjoying rain and also asked them to co-operate with the police and government officials on duty at the tourist spots.
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