On the day Team India lost the Perth Test tamely to Australia by folding up for 140, tragedy struck elsewhere in Australia as two Telangana residents got drowned off the New South Wales coast near the town of Moonee Beach. Search is still on for the missing third person.

The trio of victims, identified as Mohammed Ghousuddin, Syed Rahath and Mohammed Abdul Junaid, reportedly went to rescue two girls (aged 15 and 17) and a 15-year old boy after the kids got drowned and cried for help. Hailing from Nalgonda’s Manyam Chelka Colony, Ghusuddin and son-in-law Junaid attempted to save the rest of the family members after they got caught up in a strong tide.

After saving the children and reaching the shores, Ghousuddin and Rahath got drowned themselves and were brought to the shores by a rescue team but couldn’t be revived. Search is still on for Junaid, who was part of the two families residing at Sydney and Brisbane and who were holidaying (wind-surfing) at the scenic Moonee Beach which lies around 25 kms north-east of the Coffs Harbour in New South Wales.

Rahath hailed from BHEL Colony in Hyderabad. The tragedy struck on Monday evening. Syed Patel of the Indian Muslim Association of Australia (IMAA) lamented that the tragedy occurred when the two families, living at different cities Down Under, had met at Moanee Beach for a ‘reunion of sorts’.