3 drown during idol immersion in Sabarmati river in Gandhinagar

Gandhinagar: Three persons, including a minor girl, drowned in the Sabarmati river in Gujarat's Gandhinagar city on Wednesday morning during the immersion of an idol after a religious programme, police said.

The incident took place near Sector-30 when a group of devotees from Ahmedabad went near the river in a procession to immerse the idol of Goddess Dasha Mata after a 10-day religious function, an official from Sector-21 police station said.

A 12-year-old girl, Poonam Prajapati, lost balance and fell into the river and started drowning. Some persons present there jumped into the water body to save her but they also started getting swept away, he said.

The girl and two other persons, identified as Ajay Vanzara (30) and Bharatiben Prajapati (34), drowned, the official said.

Fire brigade personnel reached the spot immediately and fished out the bodies which were handed over to the family members after due formalities, the police said.