Rajkot tragedy: Four family members drown at Aji Dam

Four of seven members of an extended family drowned in the waters of Aji Dam in Rajkot on Saturday.

Police identified the deceased as rickshaw driver Bharat Devji Jadav (42), his two sons Dhaval (18) and Rohit (26) and his wife’s nephew, Dhruv Sanjay Makwana (15).

The incident took place between 4 pm and 5 pm on Saturday when Bharat Devji Jadav (42) took his family members in a rickshaw near the edge of Aji Dam to wash the vehicle and pray at the Mogal Mata temple located there.

Inspector H N Patel of Aji Dam police said they learnt from Mayur Naresh Jadav (16), a nephew of Bharat Jadav and one of the three survivors, that Rohit first went into the water, lost his footing and was struggling to stay above the water. First Dhaval and then Dhruv jumped into the water but they too began to drown. Bharat Jadav then jumped in himself to attempt to save the children, leading to a cascading case of fatalities.

(Express Photo)

One of the three survivors called the 112 helpline and the police and firefighters soon reached the spot.

By late evening on Saturday, at the time of writing this report, the Rajkot Fire and Emergency Services (RFES) had managed to find and retrieve three of the four bodies while efforts were underway to find Rohit’s body, confirmed a fire officer. An Accidental Death (AD) report will subsequently be filed at Aji Dam police station.