Tragedy struck the sleepy village of Murud when 13 college students drowned in the sea off the beach there on Monday afternoon. One of the students is still missing. Six were rescued by locals at the nick of time.
The students, aged between 18 and 21 years, were part of a group of 126 who were on a picnic from the computer science section of the Abeda Inamdar Senior college, Pune. They arrived in three buses for a day- long picnic.
Tide was at the lowest around 11.30 am and the highest at 5.45 pm. The incident occurred around 3.30 pm.
Despite being a tourist location, there are no lifeguards on the beach and its the local fishermen who always come to the rescue during such mishaps.
Of the 13 deceased, 10 are girls and three are boys. The missing student is Madki Saif Ahmed.
Six students were either rescued or managed to reach the shore. They were taken to the Murud rural hospital, where they are recuperating. The group was accompanied by 10 staff members, including professors.
"Information was received by the Coast Guard that 15-18 students were swept away into sea at the beach. The Coast Guard started search operations, with the assistance of the Navy. Coast Guard craft C-117 and two fishing boats have been deployed for search and rescue," said Commander Rahul Sinha, spokesperson for the Coast Guard and the Indian Navy.
One Coast Guard helicopter, ex-842, and two naval helicopters (one Chetak and one Seaking 42C) were pressed into service around 6 pm.
Later in the evening, Coast Guard ship Achook, which was on patrol duty off Mumbai, was also diverted. However, the missing student is yet to be found. The rescue operation is yet to be called off.
Murud beach and Murud Janjira are popular spots for picnickers from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune. This place in Raigad district has two coastal forts – Murud Janjira and the lesser-known Padmadurg fort.
A pall of gloom descended over the Abeda Inamdar college when it learnt the news.
P A Inamdar, trustee of the college run by the Maharashtra Cosmopolitan Education Society, told PTI that his information was that 10 girls and four boys had drowned.
