Maharashtra: 6 Missing after Boat Capsizes in Ujani Dam Backwaters in Pune

Six persons, including two children, drowned after their boat capsized in the Ujani dam backwaters in Maharashtra's Pune district, officials said on Wednesday. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), local administration and police are deployed for search and rescue operations.

Pune:In a tragic incident, six people went missing after a boat capsized in Ujani dam waters near Kalashi village of Pune district around 140 km from the city, police said.

The incident took place on Tuesday evening following strong winds and rains, they said. The victims included three men, a woman and two children, Indapur tehsildar Shrikant Patil said.

Their identities are given as Gokul D. Jadhav, 30; his wife Komal, 25; and their kids, including three-year-old daughter Mahi, and one-year-old son Shubham; a villager Gaurav Dongre and the boatman Anurag Avghade, 35.

On Wednesday, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed a specialised team to the site and launched a rescue effort to trace the missing persons, the officials said. According to locals, the tragedy occurred when the launch with seven people was sailing from Kugaon village in Solapur to the Kalashi village in Pune on the opposite bank.

According to Pune Rural Police, a rescue operation is underway. "Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), local administration and police are deployed for search and rescue operations," they said.

The boat service operates between Kalashi and Bhugav villages, he said. Following strong winds and rains on Tuesday evening, the boat carrying seven persons overturned, he said.

Baramati MP and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) Working President Supriya Sule rushed to the spot and took stock of the situation and the rescue operations.

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