The incident took place at 4 pm in Sandap village near Dombivali, adjacent to Mumbai.
Five members of a family, including three children, drowned in a water-filled quarry in Maharashtra's Thane district on Saturday, the police said today. The family members had jumped into the quarry to save one of the accompanying child members who apparently slipped and fell into the water, they said.
The incident took place at 4 pm in Sandap village near Dombivali, adjacent to Mumbai.
According to the villagers, the family members had gone to the quarry to wash clothes due to water scarcity in the village. The women were washing clothes when a child, who was with them, apparently fell into the quarry, after which they jumped into the water to save him. But all five drowned.
The dead were identified as Mira Gaikwad (55), her daughter-in-law Apeksha (30) and grandchildren Mayuresh (15), Moksha (13) and Nilesh (15).
"A woman and her daughter-in-law were washing clothes near the quarry when one of the woman's three grandchildren, who were sitting close by, apparently slipped into the water. The other four tried to rescue the child but they all drowned," a police official said.
The bodies were fished out and an accidental deaths case has been registered at Dombivali police station, the official said.