New Jersey authorities on Tuesday identified three members of an Indian-origin family, who were found dead in their backyard swimming pool.
The victims of drowning have been identified as 62-year-old Bharat Patel, his daughter-in-law 33-year-old Nisha Patel and her eight-year-old daughter.
They seemed to have drowned accidentally in the above-ground pool in East Brunswick on Monday, the New Jersey police said.
The exact cause of drowning hasn’t been established yet. But, it seemed to authorities that the three of them weren’t great swimmers and panicked on reaching deeper water.
As per the police report, the pool water varied in-depth—with a deep end.
Investigations are on, in the meantime, to establish whether the trio wasn’t electrocuted in the pool.
Police officer Lieutenant Frank Sutter was quote in an AP report as saying that the police performed CPR on arrival, before pronouncing the victims dead.
The three lived in the house on Clearview Road, which the family bought in April this year according to public records. Mayor Brad Cohen said the “entire East Brunswick community is shocked and saddened,” by the death of the Patels.
The neighbours reported having heard screams coming from the backyard. The police deduce that the mother might have screamed for help.