Bhatkal: In a shocking incident, four members of a family including three children lost their lives after they drowned in an attempt to save a drowning girl from Kali river in Haliyal taluk in Uttara Kannada district on Monday evening.

The deceased are identified as Dhulu Gavade (48), his sons Krishna Dhulu Gavade (06), daughter Gayatri Dhulu Gavade (09) and his nephew Satish Beeru Gavade (07).

According to sources, the incident happened when Gayatri Gavade, who was playing across river, slipped and started drowning in the river when her mother Rani Bai was washing clothes in a Kali river in Bomanalli village, which comes under Ambika nagar Police station limit in Haliyal taluk.

On seeing this, Rani and other children jumped into the river to rescue her. This was noticed by Rani's husband Dhulu Gavade, and he too jumped into the river to rescue his family members. Unfortunately, only Rani was rescued safely by locals, while all others drowned and lost their lives.

As the news of incident went viral in the town, police and locals in hundreds gathered at the spot. Police personnel, along with the locals are conducting the search operation for missing bodies. The body of Gayatri was retrieved from the river, while search was underway for the others until  evening.

A case has been registered in Ambikanagar police station.