A college picnic to the coast of the Arabian Sea turned tragic on Monday for a group of students from Pune as 14 of them drowned off the popular Murud-Janjira beach in adjoining Raigad district.
A college picnic to the coast of the Arabian Sea turned tragic on Monday for a group of students from Pune as 14 of them drowned off the popular Murud-Janjira beach in adjoining Raigad district.
The incident occurred when 18 students were swept into the sea when they went for a swim in the afternoon. The students, aged between 18 and 20, were undergoing BSC and BCA computer courses in Pune’s Inamdar College.
One student was still missing and search was on for him. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted that “extremely saddened and shocked to know about the Murud incident where 14 students lost their lives”.
“Instructed the collector to take care of all students. He informed that 14 bodies recovered, saved lives of 5 girls & are being hospitalised,” he said.
The chief minister said the “coast guard has started rescue operation as one student is missing. There were 116 students, eight teachers and three staff members from Inamdar College, Pune.”
According to a Coast Guard spokesperson, 13 bodies were recovered while a few students are still untraced and the Coast Guard and Navy have launched operations to rescue some missing students. A defence official said in a statement here that of the 13 bodies, 10 were those of male and three of female. The students were part of a group from Inamdar College in Pune who went to Murud in three buses for a picnic. “We received information regarding 15 to 18 students being washed into the sea at about 4 pm. Coast Guard aircraft IC117 and two hired fishing boats were deployed for search and rescue, a defence official said in a statement.
