Locals gather at the spot where the Solapur doctors drowned near the Ujani dam in Maharashtra.
Highlights
- The incident took place at Ujane dam on Bhima river near Indapur
- Doctors were warned against rowing the boat themselves
- Six of the doctors managed to swim to safety
The bodies of the four doctors from Solapur who drowned on Sunday were recovered early on Monday morning. The quartet was on the boat taking selfies when it tipped and capsized on Sunday at around 5.30 pm. While one body was recovered later in the evening, the other three were fished out of the water the next morning.
The incident took place at the Ujane dam on Bhima river near Indapur. A group of 10 doctors had gone there to enjoy the weekend. Senior Inspector Sajan Hankare, from Indapur police station, said, "At around 4 pm, the doctors hired a boat from a local fisherman and went boating without any precautions or safety knowledge. They rowed the boat themselves, despite being warned against it by local fishermen. They claimed they were doctors and knew how to be careful."
"Eyewitnesses said some doctors were clicking selfies in the boat in the middle of the backwaters, due to which the boat tipped to one side. A few of the doctors jumped from the boat, and as one of them tried to climb back in the boat, his leg got stuck in a fishing net and the boat capsized," the cop added. While six of the doctors managed to swim to safety, four were not as fortunate. Dr Chandrakant Urade's body was found the same evening, but it took until the next morning to find the bodies of Dr Subhash Manjrekar, Dr Mahesh Lavate and Dr Annashaheb Shinde. A case of accidental death has been registered. On Monday, after the post-mortem the bodies were handed over to the families.
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