Five members of a family, including three children, drowned in a water-filled quarry while washing clothes in Dombivali in Thane district on Saturday. The other four members drowned after jumping in to save the child who had accidentally slipped into the quarry.
Mira Gaikwad (55), her daughter-in-law Apeksha (30), and grandchildren Mayuresh (15), Moksha (13), and Nilesh (15) were at the quarry around 4 pm to wash their clothes because of the water scarcity in their village, Desle Pada, say reports.
"A woman and her daughter-in-law were washing clothes near the quarry when one of the woman's three grandchildren, who were sitting close by, apparently slipped into the water. The other four tried to rescue the child but they all drowned."Police Official (as told to NDTV)
Villagers have resorted to using the quarry for activities like washing clothes due to scarcity of water in the village. Reportedly, there was no water supply in the village on Saturday either.
The fire brigade fished the five corpses out of the quarry. The bodies have now been sent to a government hospital for post-mortem, say reports.
(With inputs from NDTV and The Indian Express.)
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