How A Fun Trip Turned Into Tragedy For Family In Lonavala

Pune: A monsoon outing in the backwaters of Bhushi Dam located in Pune's Lonavala turned out to be a major upset for a family whose five members including four children and a woman drowned in a water body on Sunday afternoon. 

The picnickers hailing from Sayyadnagar in Pune's Hadapsar were enjoying family time in a stream of the dam when the tragic incident unfolded. The incident occurred around 12:30 pm on June 30.

The police, Navy and other rescue teams have been deployed to search for the two missing children who along with three other family members got swept away at the Bhushi Dam. 

The rescue teams have so far recovered the bodies of a 36-year-old woman and two minor girls, with a search underway for the other two missing children - Adnan Sabhahat Ansari (4) and Mariya Aqil Ansari (9), according to police. 

"The search operation for the two children resumed on Monday morning with the rescue teams of the Vanyajeev Rakshak Maval, Shiv Durg Trekkers Organisation and the Navy divers," an official from Lonavala police station said.

What led to the Tragedy? 

The initial probe into the tragedy revealed that 16-17 members of a family from Pune's Hadapsar area had hired a private bus to visit the waterfall situated near Lonavala for a picnic on Sunday when a road battered the region. 

The Ansari family members went to see the waterfall close to the Bhushi Dam but were caught unawares when the water flow started rising due to incessant rainfall in the area and was swept away, the police officials said. 

A relative claimed that the Ansari family had travelled from Mumbai for a wedding a couple of days ago. As they wanted to spend time together at a picnic spot, they hired a bus to go to Lonavala on Sunday, he added. 

As the monsoon season begins, thousands of visitors flock to the Bhushi and Pavana dam areas, often disregarding warnings from the police and local authorities to avoid unknown areas.