4 members of Dariapur family drown in Mahi

AHMEDABAD: Four members of a Dariapur family, including three teenagers, drowned in the Mahi river. The family was on a weekend tour to Galteshwar when tragedy struck on Sunday afternoon. Only one person of the family could be saved by the locals.
The sole survivor, Trilok Prajapati, father of two children who died in the accident was besides himself with grief and shock."He tried to jump into the river after his family drowned. The rescuers had to hold him back and called the police to hunt for other victims," said an official of Thasra police station.
According to eyewitnesses, the incident occurred when five members of a family from Dabgadwad, went to have a dip in the river.
V P Patel, sub inspector at Thasra police station, said, "The members were bathing in the shallow waters when an undertow swept Rajeshbhai Prajapati, 19 into deeper water. To save him, Soniya, Vikas and Badamidevi dove into the river one after the other. All four of them drowned. Trilok could be saved by the locals since he was bathing closer to the river's bank. Local swimmers fished out the dead bodies and we have sent them to a government hospital for postmortem."
The other deceased have been identified as Badamidevi Prajapati, 40, Soniya Prajapati and Vikashbhai Prajapati, both 16 years of age.
Rakesh Gehlot, a friend of Trilok, told TOI, "The Prajapati family has been living in Dada Bhagat ni Pol since 25 years. They originally hail from Balotra town of Rajasthan. This sudden turn of events has left Trilok in a state of shock."
Prajapati sells readymade garments and owns a shop in Mahalakshmi complex at Dabgarwad. Gahelot added that, "On Sunday morning, Trilok went with his nephew and family to Galteshwar in his car. His family and nephew Vikas drowned in the river."