NDRF personnel search for the boys who drowned away at Juhu Chowpatty on Saturday in Mumbai. (Photo: Mrugesh Bandiwadekar)
NDRF personnel search for the boys who drowned away at Juhu Chowpatty on Saturday in Mumbai. (Photo: Mrugesh Bandiwadekar)
A 25-year-old youth died after drowning at Versova beach on Saturday afternoon. The youth was accompanied by two of his friends, who are still missing. A search operation to locate the other two youths was on till late Saturday evening by police teams along with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MGCM) and fire brigade authorities. Help from naval divers had also been requested at the time of going to press.
The deceased has been identified as Praiyank Yadav (25), who hails from Bhopal. Yadav was visiting Mumbai along with Satyaprakash Chauhan (25) to meet their friend Rohit Tiwari (27), who stays in Char Bangla area of Andheri. According to police officials, Chauhan and Yadav had come to Mumbai to celebrate Tiwari’s birthday.
On Saturday afternoon, the trio visited the Versova beach, also known as Barista beach, near Chaycoffe Lane. The trio was accompanied by two other friends to the beach.
According to fire brigade officials, the five youths had initially been removed from the spot by the on-duty life guard, as they were hiding in the rocks and consuming alcohol. However, they re-entered the beach after some time, they said.
On Saturday afternoon, while Yadav, Chauhan and Tiwari entered the sea, the other two chose to stay on the shore. Around 2.40 pm, the trio started drowning due to the water level in the sea.
Sensing they were drowning, the trio called for help. The two youths on the shore also alerted the life guards.
During the search and rescue operation, Yadav was found near Barista beach in an unconscious state, following which he was rushed to Cooper Hospital. While he was pronounced dead on arrival, search for the other two was on.
At the time of going to press, the police was recording the statement of the two youths who had waited by the shore.
