Pune, June 30: Five persons including a woman and four minor kids, were washed away in a waterfall and drowned downstream in a reservoir, at the famed hill station of Lonavala in Maharashtra on Sunday, a police officer said.  

Lonavala Police Station incharge Mayur Agnave said that the tragedy occurred around 2 p.m. when the victims, all from Pune, and some others had gone to enjoy the waterfall, gushing in the hilly forests near the Bhushi Dam.

The deceased have been identified as Shaista L. Ansari (36), Amaima A. Ansari, (13), Umaish A. Ansari, 8, whose bodies were recovered late Sunday evening from the dam.

Two other victims are Adnan S. Ansari (9) and Maria A. Syed (9) whose bodies have not been found and the search shall be resumed on Monday morning, the police officer said.

Local residents suspect that they may have slipped on the mossy stones at the base of the falls, got carried away in the force of the water and met a watery end in the Bhushi Dam waters which were lashed by heavy rainfall in the past few days.

Taking serious cognizance of the tragedy, the Lonavala Police have issued an appeal asking people to exercise extreme caution while visiting some of the popular monsoon picnic spots in and around the hill station.

They have also urged the people to refrain from straying into unknown or isolated areas which may prove dangerous.

--IANS