A weekend outing for a group of youngsters turned into a tragedy when three youths drowned while one was rescued from Aksa beach in Marve on Sunday. The incident took place at around 10am when the youngsters went for a swim in the Arabian Sea at Aksa beach.
One of them lost his balance and was dragged into deep waters by the strong tidal cross-currents. His friends who tried to help him were also pulled in by the strong currents. The deceased have been identified as Darshan Dalvi (23), Rakesh Nalavde (21) and Mayuresh Naik (21). Sandesh Mungekar, 25, who was rescued by the lifeguards, is being treated at Bhagwati hospital in Borivli (West).
While Darshan had just given his TYBcom exams, Rakesh worked in a call centre and Mayuresh had finished Class 12. Sandesh did some small-time jobs in the neighbourhood.
According to Malwani police, around nine youngsters from Rajanpada in Malad (West) headed to the beach at around 7am to play cricket. “After the game, at around 10am, eight of them went to wash themselves up in the water. While four where at a safe distance from the shore, the other four got pulled inside due to low tide,” Bhagwan Khare, PI, Malwani police, said.
Praful Matre, one of the beach side vendors, said, “Some boys came asking for help. We informed the lifeguard at the spot.”
Rajnikanth Mashelkar, a lifeguard at Aksa beach, said, “There was one lifeguard in the morning and I joined in the afternoon. He was able to rescue two people in the morning, of which one was declared dead before admission in Bhagwati. The body of the remaining two was found at 2pm.”
Mayuresh’s father Nandakumar said, “Mayuresh had celebrated his 21st birthday just a month ago. They all go to play cricket by the beach every week. It was the most unexpected. All of them knew basic swimming.”
The Malwani police have registered a case of accidental death and the bodies have been handed over to family members.
Dearth of lifeguards
There are only 9 permanent lifeguards and 23 contract lifeguards at 6 beaches in the city.
Rajnikant Mashelkar, a senior lifeguard at the Aksa beach, says at a given time, there is only one lifeguard at the beach.
He also added that there is dearth of rescue equipment like binoculars and lifebuoys. He said that unless more number of lifeguards are made permanent and more enrollments are made, accidents are waiting to happen.
