Pune (Maharashtra), June 30 : Five persons including a woman and four minor kids, were washed away and drowned downstream at the famed hill station of Lonavala here on Sunday, a police official said.

Lonavala Police Station in-charge Mayur Agnave said that the tragedy occurred around 2 p.m. when the victims and some others had gone to enjoy the waterfall, flowing in the hilly forests near the Bhushi Dam.

As per preliminary information, the woman is aged around 40 and the children are aged between 4 and 8 years -- all reported to be from Sayyed Nagar in Pune.

Locals said that they may have slipped on the mossy stones at the base of the falls, got carried away in the force of the water and met a watery end, though exact details are awaited.

Rescue teams of locals and police, armed with ropes and trekking gear, have rushed to the tragedy site to remove the victims, Agnave added.

/IANS