Phagwara woman among 4 drown at Australian beach

The deceased woman has been identified as Reema Sondhi, 43, who was on vacation in Australia along with her husband Sanjeev Sondhi

A 43-year-old Phagwara woman was among four Indians who drowned at an unpatrolled beach in Australia on Thursday morning. The incident took place on Wednesday at Phillip Island in Victoria and a close relative confirmed the names of the victims to the Australian media.

The deceased woman has been identified as Reema Sondhi, 43, who was on vacation in Australia along with her husband Sanjeev Sondhi.

The deceased woman has been identified as Reema Sondhi, 43, who was on vacation in Australia along with her husband Sanjeev Sondhi.

The other deceased have been identified as Jagjeet Singh Anand, a 23-year-old man and students Suhani Anand and Kirti Bedi, both 20-year-old women.

The Sondhi family was visiting their kin in Australia. The victims were part of a group of about 10 people who had been enjoying a day out at the beach, the report added. The three younger victims lived in Clyde.

In its post on X (formerly Twitter), the Indian High Commission stated: “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. @cgimelbourne team is in touch with friends of the deceased for all necessary assistance.”

Reema’s relative Deepak Sondhi said the couple had been on a family vacation along with Reema’s cousins and other family members for the past few days.

“As per available reports, they had gone for a swim at a local beach when a few of the family members went for a dip in the ocean. Reema along with three other relatives were washed away by strong currents, while Sanjeev was rescued,” he said.

Victoria Police Eastern Region Assistant Commissioner Karen Nyholm said the victims entered the water near Forrest Caves – close to Cape Woolamai on the Bass Strait side of the Phillip Island’s south-eastern peninsula – on Wednesday afternoon.

Off-duty lifeguards surfing nearby rushed to their aid after the group got into difficulty, pulling three people from the water unresponsive.

Life Saving Victoria commander Kane Treloar said lifeguards from Cape Woolamai were called at about 3.40 pm on Wednesday and a rescue boat retrieved the fourth person. All required CPR.

Three of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene while one of the 20-year-old women was resuscitated and flown to The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. She died in hospital, police said on Thursday morning.

On Thursday, Life Saving Victoria commander Treloar said it was the worst drowning incident the state had seen in decades. “We all worked tirelessly to help those people,” Ambulance Victoria manager Paul James said. “It’s tragic... only a week ago we had three other separate drownings here in Gippsland.” With inputs from PTI