3 Of Gujarat Family Drown In River, 2 Missing

Three members of a family drowned while a newly-married couple from the family was missing after they went for a bath in a river in Gujarat's Surat district, police said on Wednesday.

The incident took place on Tuesday evening when nearly 10 members of the family, including children, went to offer prayers at a dargah, an official said.

After offering prayers, five adults from the family and some children went to take a bath in the Ambika river flowing nearby.

Initially, a male family member, who recently got married, started drowning and raised an alarm. His wife and three other women relatives, who were also in the river, rushed to save him, but they also started drowning, the official said.

One of the family members, who was at the river bank, rushed and saved the children, while the man and four women got swept away in the waters, police official BS Gamit said.

A fire department team later reached the spot and fished out two bodies on Tuesday and one body on Wednesday, the official said.

The newly-married couple was still missing, he said, adding that the family hailed from Surat city.

The official said in the past, there have been some incidents of drowning in the river.

Despite barricades and boards put up at the spot warning people against venturing into the river, outsiders visiting the place many a times go for a swim in the water body, risking their lives, he added.