Raigad: In a tragic incident, eight students who were out on a picnic, drowned after venturing into the sea at Diveagar beach in Maharashtra’s Raigad district Thursday, officials said.
According to officials, a group of 48 people were on a visit to Dighi-Sagari beach in Diveagar for an excursion Thursday evening.
The group comprised 25 boys, 17 girls, and 6 teachers from ‘Winners Academy for 11th and 12th’ in Pune’s Alandi area.
During the visit, eight students ventured into the sea and were swept away after they apparently misjudged the depth of the water and current.
Reacting instantly, Bhau Salunkhe, owner of ‘Bhau Maruti Salunkhe Mahakali Water Sports’ at Diveagar, along with his team, launched an immediate rescue operation. Risking their own lives, the water sports team managed to retrieve the bodies of all eight victims from the sea, NDTV reported.
The media report added that upon receiving information about the tragedy, Assistant Police Inspector Santosh Awati from the Dighi Sagari Borli Panchatan Police Station rushed to the spot with a team. With the assistance of local villagers, the police took custody of the bodies and sent them to the Primary Health Centre in Borli Panchatan for post-mortem examinations.
The deceased students have been identified as Tanmay Dattatray Vahile, Sumit Bharat Ahire, Pranav Ramdas Bansode, Kaivalya Satish Vasankar, Rajveer Yuvraj Vahile, Yash Kiran Wankhede, Soham Tukaram Bhandwalkar, and Kaustubh Sandeep Daund.
Officials have confirmed that all the deceased students were 16 years of age and residents of Alandi in Pune.
Investigators said that further proceedings in the case are underway.
The incident took place days after a similar tragedy in Jharkhand claimed the lives of three young children.
The children drowned to death in a pond at Chegayadih village under Jamtara Sadar police station limits in Jharkhand, officials said.
They had gone to play together in the afternoon and later wandered towards a village pond located in the Chirkutola area.
According to local residents, the children drowned in the pond while playing. Villagers rushed to the spot after learning about the incident and pulled them out of the water. However, all three had died by then.
