4 of family drown during Ganesh idol immersion

Patan (Gujarat): A woman, her two teenage sons and brother drowned in a river in Gujarat’s Patan district during the immersion of a Lord Ganesh idol, officials said on Thursday.

Seven persons were swept away in the Saraswati river water near Patan town on Wednesday evening during the idol immersion. 

Two men and a woman were rescued immediately by locals, while four members of a family went missing, Collector Arvind Vijayan said.

After learning about the missing persons, district authorities called in 15 divers from Patan, Mehsana and Siddhpur towns to locate them.

As many as 15 tractors and earthmovers were also deployed for using their headlights in the search area at night, said Vijayan.

Following an intense search and rescue operation, the bodies of the four missing persons were found in the early hours of Thursday, he said.

The four victims were identified as Shital Prajapati (37), her sons Daksh (17) and Jimit (15) and her brother Nayan Prajapati (30), all residents of Verai Chakla locality in Patan town.