On Monday, 14 people in which a teacher and 10 girls of a college from Pune, who were part of a group of 130 came to picnic drowned in the Arabian Sea at Murud beach in Maharashtra which is around 150 km from South Mumbai. The death toll is expected to rise as few students are still reported missing. The cause of the massive tragedy was still not found.
The Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard deployed three helicopters, including a Chetak and a Seaking chopper, and an Interceptor 117 speedboat, while ICG ship Achook was diverted to the area for ‘locate and rescue’ operation, a defence spokesperson said. After rescuing the victims, it was found that 10 girls were dead and six students, including four girls, were rescued and rushed to hospitals.
Some of the local people said that some of the students ventured too far out into the waters and were probably caught by the tidal currents, which swept them away. The students were part of a group of 130 from Maharashtra Cosmopolitan Education Society’s Abeda Inamdar College and had come to the picturesque Murud beach for an annual picnic. The students are from first, second and third year B.Sc (Computer Science) and BCA (Computer Applications) courses aged between 19 and 23 years said MCES president P.A. Inamdar.
The victims were identified as Rafiya Ansari, Shafiya Ansari, Sumaiya Ansari, Sheefa Kazi, Supriya Pan, Sana Shaikh, Swapnali Salgar, Sajeed Choudhary, Iftekar Shaikh, Samreen Shaikh, Mohammed Ansari, Farin Sayyed, and college teacher Rajlaxmi Pandugayala. One person, Saif Madki, was identified as among those reported missing.
“We are shocked by this tragedy. We are making all efforts to help the students and their families with the help of local villagers and police. A team of our trustees has already left Pune for Raigad for rendering further assistance,” Inamdar told.