Bengaluru: Eight students from an engineering college in Belagavi drowned in Malvan beach in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra on Saturday noon as they had gone on a picnic along with 35 other students of the college. Three other students, who were rescued, are undergoing treatment at a hospital.
More than 40 students from Maratha Mandal Engineering College near Kakati in Belagavi had told their parents that they were going on a study tour to Pune and had left on Wednesday.
On Saturday afternoon, they went to the beach and around 30 of them ventured into the sea. As they entered the deep waters, the sea started to rise as it was high tide. Some of them started drowning, even as their friends rushed in to save them, but in vain. Only 20 could swim back to safety. The police, alerted about the incident, rushed to the spot and fished out all the bodies with the help of professional swimmers.
“Three students were brought to the shore in an unconscious state and they were immediately rushed to hospital. One is in a critical condition, while the other two are recovering,” the police said.
The deceased have been identified as Mazammil Hanikar, Kiran Khandekar, Aarti Chavan, Avdhoot Tahshildar, Nitin Mutnadkar, Karuna Berde, Maya Kolhe and Mahesh Kujdarkar. Sanket Gadvi, Anita Hanali and Akansha Ghatge are in the hospital.
It is learnt that the local residents warned the students not to venture into the sea as there was a strong current, but they reportedly ignored the warnings.
