The dead include newlyweds Kush Patel and Kajal Patel.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Authorities from the Dominican Republic have reported four family members of an Indian American family have drowned in an incident that occurred off the nation’s eastern shore.
According to Civil Defense Director Amado Avila, the three men and woman were caught in strong currents off Playa Macao near the resort community of Punta Cana while vacationing with a dozen other relatives.
The three men were identified as Kush Patel, Jay Patel, and Shivang Patel, while the woman was named as Kajal Patel.
Shivang and Jay Patel were brothers who tried to save their cousin and his newlywed wife as they struggled in the riptide, but they were ultimately swept under the vicious current as well.
A Dominican newspaper reported the group was in an area prohibited to swimmers because of the rip currents, but Patels say there were no signs warning the victims to stay away.
According to the family, all three men went to Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Kajal hailed from the Princeton area, in New Jersey.
Jay Patel leaves behind a wife and 2-month-old baby boy.
“They were beautiful. I love them,” father Summant Patel told CBS Philly as he broke down in tears. He was holding a picture of his son Kush and his daughter-in-law Kajal. “I can’t say anything. I lost my son.”
1 Comment
these guys had really bad luck in Dominican Republic….:/