Family of four and boatman die in boat tragedy

Solapur: The NDRF recovered the bodies of five persons, including a family of four and a boatman, who drowned after their motorboat overturned in an unprecedented storm at Ujani Dam, an official said here on Thursday.

According to Indapur Police Inspector Suryakant Kokane, the NDRF and police rescue teams have brought out the bodies of the Jadhav family and the boatman Anurag Avghade. “After a massive day-long search operation, we have recovered the bodies of five victims. A teenage boy Gaurav Dongre is still missing. We have launched a fresh effort to track him down,” Kokane told IANS.

Kokane said that the ill-fated boat has been recovered as also a motorcycle, reportedly belonging to the sole survivor, Assistant Police Inspector (API) Rahul Dongre, who swam to safety late that night. The tragedy occurred late on Tuesday (May 21 night), when a regular motorboat ferry plying in the dam backwaters between Kugaon in Solapur and Kalash in Pune flipped over in the sudden storm that lashed the region.

The Solapur Police said that the vessel with seven passengers set sail from Kugaon to Kalashi but midway the weather abruptly changed into a thunderstorm accompanied by strong winds that churned up strong waves in the lake waters which toppled the small motorboat. The identities of the victims whose bodies were recovered are Gokul D. Jadhav, 30 years, his wife Komal 25, their kids including daughter Mahi, 03, and son Shubham, 01, plus the boatman Anurag Avghade, 35.

It was the API Dongre, who could swim to Kalashi who sounded an alarm and alerted the villagers, the Pune Police and the district administration besides other rescue authorities who rushed to the spot but could do little in the darkness with sporadic rains. On Wednesday, the NDRF deployed a team which started the search with expert divers, boats, ropes and other specialised equipment, and a search is on for the missing boy Dongre.

Source: IANS