Four trekkers from Mumbai drown in dam in Raigad during trip

Representational image/ File Pic

Four collegians on a trekking trip drowned in a dam in Khalapur in Maharashtra's Raigad district on Friday, reported PTI citing a police official.

As per the PTI report, the incident occurred at 2:30pm in Sondewadi when the deceased were near Sondai fort along with their National Cadet Corps colleagues, the official said.

"A total of 22 men and 15 women, who are residents of the western part of Mumbai, including Bandra, were part of the trekking trip. At Sondewadi, one of the men entered the dam for swimming. He cried for help when he started drowning, and three of his friends who jumped in to save him also started drowning," he said.

"After being alerted by those on the trip, police and local disaster management cell teams rushed to the site. The bodies of four persons, in their 20s, were fished out," added the official.

The deceased have been identified as Eklavya Singh, Ishant Yadav, Akash Mane and Ranath Banda, said the report. As per the official, the bodies have been sent for post mortem and the process of handing them over to kin is underway

An accidental death case has been registered and further probe into the incident is underway, the Khalapur police station official said.

In another case, a 20-year-old engineering student, who left his home in Lokhandwala on Sunday evening in his car, was found dead near a high-profile rooftop pub in south Mumbai in the wee hours on Monday. The Yellow Gate police registered an accidental death report (ADR) at 5:54 am on Monday and are conducting an investigation.

The deceased was identified as Hamza Gulreej Khan. The deceased's father is currently on a religious tour and not in India, said a source. The source said, "He (Hamza) left home in his car at 8 pm on Sunday and did not return. His father is currently on Hajj."

Meanwhile, a neighbour close to the deceased's family told mid-day that his body was found unattended for over an hour inside the pub. "The matter needs to be thoroughly investigated," the neighbour said.

However, a senior police official refuted the claim and told the newspaper that Hamza's body was found outside the pub. The officials said that they had also recovered his phone and the car.

As soon as the police arrived at the scene, they sent the body to a multi-disciplinary medical hospital in Byculla and later, it was sent to Sir JJ Hospital for post-mortem.

"The actual cause of death will be ascertained after the post-mortem is conducted. We are waiting for the post-mortem report," the officer added.

The father of the deceased is set to land in Mumbai on Tuesday.