Five of family drown in river in a bid to save each other

Pune: In a shocking incident, five members of a family died after drowning in a stream at Walen near Kolvan in Mulshi taluka of Pune district on Sunday, Paud police said.

“The Mulshi disaster management team successfully recovered their bodies from the water body,” police constable Ravindra Nagtilak said.

The deceased include husband, wife and their three daughters. They have been identified as Shankar Dashrath Laigude (38), Pournima Shankar Laigude (36), Arpita Shankar Laigude (20), Ankita Shankar Laigude (13) and Rajshri Shankar Laigude (12), all residents of Walen, near Kolvan, in Mulshi taluka, Pune.

According to the police, Pournima Laigude had gone to the river around 10.30 am on Sunday to wash clothes. Her foot slipped and she fell into the stream. Seeing her drown, her three daughters tried to save her but unfortunately they also drowned. After Shankar Dashrath Laigude came to know about this, he too rushed to the stream and tried to save the family but himself drowned in the gushing waters of the stream. Paud police rushed to the spot upon learning about the incident.

Meanwhile, the Mulshi disaster management team fished out all the bodies from the stream. A case of accidental death has been registered at Paud police station.