Palanpur/Amreli: Three children and two women drowned in two incidents in the 24 hours ended Friday evening, in Banaskantha and Amreli districts.In Banaskantha, three cousins drowned in a lake on Thursday while trying to fetch water in Dodgam village of Tharad taluka. Police said a boy, Vipul, slipped and fell into the lake while drawing water. Seeing him struggle in the water, his cousins — Hetal (22) and Gudi (18), who were sisters — jumped in to try and save him. None of the three knew how to swim and all of them drowned.Hetal and Gudi had come to Dodgam with their mother, Resham Valmiki, to visit their maternal uncle Soba, Vipul’s father. Hetal had married a youth from Balodan village in Bhabhar taluka. She is survived by a three-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter. The sisters had lost their father about three years ago.In Bhundani village of Amreli’s Khambha taluka, two young boys from the same family drowned in a river while playing near the water after an accidental slip.Residents alerted the 108 emergency ambulance service and the boys were taken to the government hospital in Rajula, where doctors declared them dead on arrival.The deceased were identified as Rudra Mahida (10) and Parth Mahida (8).
