Phagwara: Three Indian youths, including a Phagwara woman, were drowned on Victoria's Philip Island, about 139 km from Melbourne in Australia, on Wednesday morning (IST).
One of the deceased women was identified as Reema, the daughter-in-law of Phagwara industrialist Om Sondhi.
Om Sondhi told us on Thursday here that a pall of gloom descended upon hearing the news of the tragic death of Reema. He told me that Reema, along with her husband Sanjeev and his co-brother's family, went to Australia for vacations. Her relative Suhani (22) and her brother (both residents of Solan, Himachal Pradesh) also drowned in the mishap. However, Sanjeev was rescued by the cops.
Mr. Sondhi said emergency services responded to reports of four people struggling in the water at Newhaven Beach about 3.30 p.m. (Australian time) on Wednesday. Three women and a man were pulled from the water unresponsive, police said.
The first responders administered CPR to all four, but three died at the scene. Police will prepare a report for the coroner following the deaths of three people at Newhaven on Phillip Island.
A woman (20) was also airlifted to Alfred Hospital in a critical condition, according to Ambulance Victoria.
The four were swimming at an unpatrolled location near Forrest Caves, a Lifesaving Victoria spokeswoman said.
The family and friends of the victims were very upset once they arrived on the scene, a witness told.
“There seemed to be a group of about 10 people who would have come here for just a really nice day, and obviously it’s ended in tragedy,” the cops said.
"They were crying and comforting each other.” The Visit Phillip Island tourism body said the caves are formed by erosion of the cliffs and are only accessible at low tides.
The police will prepare a report for the coroner and are not treating the deaths as suspicious.
