Vacation turns tragic as 3 from Mumbai drown

The family and friends were on a picnic at the Jadhavwadi dam backwaters on Sunday when three of them drowned

Three members of a group of 12 people on a vacation to Pune drowned in the Jadhavwadi backwaters on Sunday while enjoying a swim before lunch. A seven-year-old was among those who died while three people were safely rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team that was camping nearby. The deceased have been identified as Anil Kondiba Kolase, 58, a resident of CGS colony, Ghatkopar, Preetesh Raghunath Agale, 32, from Nausena Vihar, Ghatkopar and Prashil Adhav, 7, from Vashi. A case of accidental death has been registered with the Talegaon MIDC police station, Pune rural.

Around eight people from the Adhav and Agale family, who are residents of Mumbai, were visiting their friend Dadashaheb Gaikwad's residence at Yewalewadi in Pune. Swapnil Gaikwad, Dadashaheb's son, said his relatives and family friends were visiting them for a holiday. "On Sunday, we visited the backwaters area at Jadhavwadi.

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Around noon, we came out of the water but my aunt's husband Anil (who works with Doordarshan), slipped and fell into the water," said Gaikwad, adding that the soil had become slippery due to a high tide and the water levels had risen which is why Kolase slipped and couldn't sustain in the high waters. Gaikwad's father Dadasaheb soon jumped in to save Kolase, while seven-year-old Prashil ran behind to see what was happening. His mother tried to stop him when both of them fell too. That's when the kid's uncle Preetesh Agale jumped in to save them, followed by Dadasaheb's wife Sangita, who slipped and fell too, senior inspector Rajendrakumar Rajmane of Talegoan MIDC police station informed. "It seems like none of them knew how to swim.

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When Dadasaheb's daughter Utkarsha and the other relatives raised an alarm, some men from the NDRF camp nearby rushed to the spot and managed to bring everyone out. They were given first aid and rushed to the hospital. But three of them were declared dead upon arrival," Rajmane added.

NDRF commandant Sachidanand Gawade said, "Relatives of the people who were drowning were crying for help when the NDRF teams practising nearby heard them and rushed to the spot. They were able to save three people of which one was revived by giving CPR by an NDRF personnel. Three others, pulled out in an unconscious state, were declared dead upon reaching the hospital where they were taken in an NDRF ambulance. Efforts were taken to revive them too but unfortunately they failed."

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