London: Two British Indian women doctors drowned in Spain after getting sucked into a whirlpool trying to rescue their children swept away by a wave, a court has heard. Uma Ramalingam (42), a consultant obstetrician from Cheshire, and Barathi Ravikumar (40), a general practitioner from Lincoln, had died during a family holiday in Spain in April this year. The women were among four families on holiday in the resort of Playa Paraiso on the island of Tenerife. An inquest at Stockport in south Manchester heard details of the incident last week.

Dr Ravikumar's twin sister, Dr Poorami Chandrasekaran, said the sea was calm and they had been paddling at the edge when they were hit by three powerful waves. "The second wave dragged us in... When the third wave came I could not find anything under my feet. Once the rocks were wet they acted like a slide," she said. The two children they were trying to rescue were saved. Post-mortem examinations on the doctors confirmed they had died from asphyxia due to drowning.