Holiday turns tragic: Eight students from Pune drown at beach in Maharashtras Raigad
Eight students entered the sea but were swept away after apparently misjudging the water depth and strong currents.
PTC News Desk: Eight 16-year-old students from Pune drowned at Diveagar beach in Maharashtra’s Raigad district after being caught in strong sea currents. Police said the bodies of all eight students have been recovered.
The students were part of a group from Winners’ Academy in Alandi, Pune. A total of 48 people, including 25 boys, 17 girls and six teachers, had travelled around 170 km for a picnic.
The group reached the beach around 5:30 pm. Eight students entered the sea but were swept away after apparently misjudging the water depth and strong currents.
Bhau Salunkhe, who runs a local water sports business, and his team immediately began a rescue operation. They managed to recover all eight bodies.
Police and local villagers then took the bodies to the Primary Health Centre in Borli Panchatan for post-mortem examinations and other formalities.
The victims were identified as Tanmay Dattatray Vahile, Sumit Bharat Ahire, Pranav Ramdas Bansode, Kaivalya Satish Wasankar, Rajveer Yuvraj Vahile, Yash Kiran Wankhede, Soham Tukaram Bhandwalkar and Kaustubh Sandeep Daund.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called the incident extremely tragic and said the administration was making arrangements to take the bodies to Alandi.
Disaster Management Minister Girish Mahajan ordered an investigation and said the academy would be held accountable. He also said the state government would introduce new safety guidelines for school and educational trips.