Two from Telangana drown in Australia

Hyderabad: A weekend get-together turned into a tragedy for a family from Telangana at Moonee Beach in New South Wales in Australia on Monday evening. Two members, who were from Nalgonda, drowned, and a third is still missing. 

Addressing the media, Surf Life Saving NSW north coast duty officer Les Pepper said that it is a treacherous stretch of beach and not safe at all.

“Some of the beaches look really nice, but are a bit treacherous. At Moonee, it is a river mouth, the creek comes out from there and the rip forms from there and takes you straight out, and people just don’t understand what rips are,” he said.

Former MLA Komatireddy Venkat Reddy went to the residence of the family in Nalgonda and has urged the Telangana government to take appropriate measures to bring back the bodies of the victims at the earliest.

However, it is likely that the last rites will be performed in Australia for the men whose bodies were recovered on Monday, a relative said. A search team is still looking for 28-year-old Junaid.

“The families are considering performing the last rites in Australia itself since it might take weeks to get them back and also because the families of the deceased are in Australia. However, Junaid’s body, when found, will be brought back to the city as he is unmarried and has immediate relatives here in Nalgonda,” Mr Shoaib said.

Superintendent of Police, Nalgonda, A.V. Ranganath, said that all necessary arrangements will be made and full support will be provided from the police to deport the body from Australia.

“Though the Indian Embassy in Australian capital will be at their service, we will be ready to help out if and when necessary,” Mr Ranganath said.

According to sources, the men in the party jumped into the water to rescue three drowning children and were caught in strong currents. The three children were saved by a rescue team and taken to hospital. M. Shoaib, a relative of the two families from Nalgonda, told Deccan Chronicle that four families, two from Brisbane and two from Sydney, drove down to Moonee Beach and booked rooms to stay there for a get-together.

“They had been living in Australia for the past four years. My uncle, Ghousuddin, and Rahath, a distant relative, were in the software field, and Junaid was pursuing his masters in Pharmacy there. On Monday at around 6 pm, while the women chose to stay indoors, Ghousuddin, his three kids, and Rahath and Junaid went to the beach. Though we are not fully aware of the exact turn of events, we were told that the kids were getting pulled into the water by the waves and that is when the men jumped in to save them,” said Mr Shoaib.

M.A. Junaid, 28, his uncle Ghousudhin, 45, were both natives of Nalgonda town. Rahath, 35, was a resident of BHEL township. While Ghousudhin and Rahath drowned, Junaid is still missing. 

Later, the two teenaged girls and a teenaged boy who were pulled from the water and taken to Coffs Harbour hospital for observation. Junaid's body has not been found and search teams are still looking for it.