Four dead at Harsul lake in two incidents

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Four people died in two separate drowning incidents at the Harsul lake, near Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, on Sunday afternoon, the police and fire brigade officials said.Two teenagers drowned around 3.30pm after entering the lake from the Jambhulban side. An unidentified man, who had entered the water to rescue the teens, also drowned, the officials added.Minutes later, the fire brigade personnel recovered the bodies of all three."Another man fell from the crest of the lake in a suspected suicide bid and drowned before the rescue team could reach him," said Vaibhav Bakade, the duty officer with Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation's fire brigade.The teenagers who drowned have been identified as Afan Khan Ismail Khan (17) and Shaikh Adil Shaikh Mohsin (13), both residents of Beri Bag near Harsul. The identity of the person who drowned trying to save them could not be ascertained till late evening. The police said photos of the man have been sent to different police stations.The person who allegedly died by suicide has been identified as Yash Sandeep Dehade, a resident of the Siddharth Nagar area."The teenagers entered the Harsul lake from the Jambhulban side. The area is marshy, with deep water ahead. The teens must have failed to gauge the local conditions and drowned," head constable Khushal Nikam said."We found a mobile phone inside the pocket of a man who died in a suspected suicide bid and traced his family using the contact numbers," Nikam said.The police have registered separate cases of accidental deaths in connection with all four drowning incidents at Harsul lake.