Mumbai: At least 14 students, including 10 girls and four boys, from Pune drowned in the Arabian Sea off Murud beach in the Raigad district of Maharashtra on Monday.
Some 130 students from the Abeda Inamdar College had arrived in three buses to Murud beach, around 150 km south of Mumbai, for a college picnic. The incident occurred around 3.30 pm, when the youngsters had gone for a swim into the sea.
Police officials said that because of the sudden high tide, students who had ventured deep into the sea were caught in the tidal currents and unable to swim back to safety.
“A few residents and a coast guard told us that the students had crossed the danger zone after which they started drowning,” said Raigad PRO API Patil.
“Some of the residents jumped into the sea to save the youngsters. These people then called the police and a rescue team was immediately sent to the beach. The local police and coast guard officials were also called to the spot. Some students have informed us that a few of the boys might have been drunk,” he further said.
According to a spokesperson of the coast guard team, 13 bodies were recovered while the coast guard and Navy is still looking for the one missing student.
“The coast guard initiated a search operation and the Indian Navy provided assistance in the search. A coast guard craft IC 117 and two fishing boats were deployed for the search and rescue operation. As of now, 13 dead bodies (10 girls and three boys) have been recovered. Six students were rescued with some managing to reach the shore and were taken to the hospital. One student is still missing,” said the spokesperson.
One coast guard helicopter ex 842 Sqn (CG) and two Navy helicopters (one Chetak and one Seaking 42C) were launched around 6 pm. ICGS Achook was also diverted,” said the official spokesperson of the Indian coastguard. The Navy has also deployed two interceptor craft for the search operations.
All the students belonged to the computer science department of the college.
Governor of Maharashtra C. Vidyasagar Rao on Monday expressed grief over the tragedy. In a condolence message, Mr Rao said, “I am deeply aggrieved and shocked to know about the drowning of 13 students My heart goes out to the near and dear ones of those who lose their lives.”
