{"id":443019,"date":"2026-01-28T13:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/443019\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T13:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:45:14","slug":"two-young-men-drowned-in-front-of-their-partners-in-never-never-river-identified","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/443019\/","title":{"rendered":"Two young men drowned in front of their partners in Never Never River identified"},"content":{"rendered":"

The devastated families of the two young men who drowned<\/a> in front of their fianc\u00e9e and pregnant wife are hoping to bring their bodies home.<\/p>\n

Sachin Khillan, 32, and Sahil Batra, 33 \u2014 two Indian<\/a> nationals living in Sydney<\/a> \u2014 were celebrating the long weekend with their partners and friends at Gleniffer on the NSW<\/a> Mid North Coast when they began struggling in the Never Never River about 6.45pm on Sunday.<\/p>\n

A friend of both men said they entered the water believing it was shallow because there was a \u201cno diving\u201d sign nearby.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThey were being responsible and cautious, stepping only into shallow water,\u201d Sunita said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn an unforeseeable moment, a strong current surged and swept them away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat should have been an innocent moment turned into an unthinkable tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SachinSachin Khillan (second left) and Sahil Batra (second right) drowned in front of their partners on Sunday. Credit: GoFundMe<\/p>\n

Emergency services rushed to the scene and pulled the two men from the water, but were unable to save them.<\/p>\n

Batra\u2019s wife of eight years, Sakshi Arora \u2014 who is seven months pregnant \u2014 was taken to hospital and treated for shock.<\/p>\n

The couple moved to Australia from India in 2022, according to their social media profiles.<\/p>\n

Their accounts show photos and videos of the pair together, including a baby shower celebration held just two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

Nova Institute of Technology, where Khillan worked as a carpentry trainer, shared a tribute on social media, saying it was \u201cwith deep sadness\u201d that it acknowledged his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cSachin was a deeply valued member of our community, known for his dedication, professionalism, and the genuine care he showed his students and colleagues,\u201d the institute wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis passion for teaching and the positive impact he had on so many lives will always be remembered.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur heartfelt thoughts and condolences are with Sachin\u2019s family, friends, students, and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.<\/p>\n

\u201cRest in peace, Sachin. You will be deeply missed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SachinSachin Khillan, 32. Credit: Social media<\/p>\n

In a joint statement to 7NEWS.com.au<\/a>, the families of the two friends said both men had basic swimming skills and that events unfolded very quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are sharing this message with heavy hearts as we grieve the heartbreaking loss of Sachin and Sahil,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis tragedy has changed our lives forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough our grief, we want to urge everyone to please stay away from unknown or unfamiliar waters.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when water looks calm and shallow, it can be extremely dangerous and change without warning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SahilSahil Batra Credit: Social media<\/p>\n

Kalkal said both men were the sole breadwinners for their elderly parents, who are suffering from critical medical conditions.<\/p>\n

The families are hoping to repatriate the men\u2019s bodies to India, Kalkal said, with a GoFundMe<\/a> page established to support the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are raising the target so that any remaining funds can be sent to their elderly parents, who have lost their sons and must now live with this pain for the rest of their lives,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour kindness will help them survive this unimaginable grief and know they are not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another man aged in his 30s who had been submerged in the water was also transported to hospital.<\/p>\n

A crime scene has been established and a report will be prepared for the coroner.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Two men dead and pregnant woman hospitalised in NSW river tragedy<\/p>\n

1 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Devastated family speak about young boy killed in NZ landslide<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The devastated families of the two young men who drowned in front of their fianc\u00e9e and pregnant wife…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,99,34464,1209,44,5847,670],"class_list":{"0":"post-443019","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-gofundme","12":"tag-india","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-nsw-news","15":"tag-sydney"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}