• Source:JND
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As many as four Indians, including a woman from Punjab’s Phagwara, lost their lives after drowning at Victoria’s Philip Island near Australia’s Melbourne. The victims were swimming at an endangered location near Forrest Caves, News 18 reported citing the local media.

Indian High Commission in Australia confirmed the incident saying they were in contact with the friends of the victims.

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“Heart breaking tragedy in Australia: 4 Indians lost their lives in a drowning incident at Phillip Island, Victoria. Deepest condolences to families of the victims.@cgimelbourneteam is in touch with friends of the deceased for all necessary assistance,” they said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

A woman among the deceased, identified as Reema, was said to be the daughter-in-law of Phagwara industrialist Om Sondhi. Vijay Sondhi, elder brother of Om Sondhi, said they were shocked to learn about the incident, a report in Punjab News Express quoted him as saying.    

“Life Saving Victoria was called to assist four people in trouble in the waters off Forrest Caves on Phillip Island, only a couple of kilometres from our patrolled lifeguard site,” news agency PTI quoted Kane Treloar, the Life Saving Victoria state agency commander, as saying.

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“Upon arriving at the scene, our lifeguards found that off-duty lifeguards had pulled three of those people from the water and one of our rescue boats pulled that last person from the water,” he added.

Treloar said the victims were unconscious and did not respond to CPR. He said it was the worst accident the state had seen in decades.