Eight drown in Gujarat

Rajkot, Aug 20 (UNI) Eight people, including three students, drowned in separate incidents in Gujarat during the last 24 hours.

Five persons, including three students, drowned in three separate incidents in Saurashtra region in the last 24 hours.

One hundred and sixty students of 10th and 11th classes, along with four teachers, of Kumar Chhartralya for a village Bhutvad in Dhoraji taluka of the district, had gone to picnic at Sidsar in Jamjodhpur taluka of Jamnagar district yesterday.

Where three of them were drowned, the police said today.

The students have been identified as Yagnik Jitendrabhai (16), Khushal Premjibhai (16) and Kanji Manji (15), sources said.

Villagers have fished out their bodies and sent them for post-mortem, sources said.

In another incident, a youth drowned in a pit filled with rain water, while taking a bath at Raya village in the district.

The youth was identified as Suresh Parmar (19), sources said.

In a third incident, a 23-year-old man drowned while taking a bath in a rivulet near village Veraval in Junagadh district.

He ws identified as Sanjay Keshavlal Raja, sources added.

Meanwhile in Nadiad, three persons drowned in the Vatrak river at Sojali village in Mehmadavad taluka.

The incident occurred last evening, when six youths from Ahmedabad were visiting Roja Roji maqbara at the Sojali village.

After visiting the site, they went for a bath in the river where three of them drowned while the other three managed to escape.

One body was recovered by the joint efforts of Ahmedabad and Nadiad fire brigade today. The deceased was identified as Habib Babullah Sheikh. Search for the bodies of Mohammad Firoz Ghulam Hussein Sheikh and Abdul Aziz Sheik are still on.

UNI