Diveagar beach accident: ‘I don’t like to swim in salt water, hence survived’: Student who witnessed death of 8

“We reached the beach around 5 pm. Teachers said those who could swim could play in the sea. Others were asked to stay on the seashore. The teachers accompanied those who went into the seawater. The group of girl students was playing in shallow water along the seaside…I can swim. But I do not like swimming in salt water. So I did not enter the sea and hence survived,” said Soham.

He added, “From the sea shore, I saw the boys had not gone very deep into the sea. They were into the seawater up to their waist along with our teachers. But, within a few minutes, I noticed movements of police and water sports personnel. When I went closer, I saw they were trying to rescue my friends who were drowning in the sea. Our teachers Amar Adak and Mrunal Narkhade and some students who were good swimmers were also making efforts to rescue those drowning. While some students were rescued safely, eight died in the incident. They included Pranav, my freind…I did not see any caution boards, life guards or life jacket facility at the beach.”

After the incident, Soham called his father Govind Gore. “I was very worried. So I asked Soham to talk to me on a video call,” his father said.

Soham said he returned with other students and teachers in the same bus that reached Alandi around 6 am on Friday.

Meanwhile, Raigad police handed over the bodies to family members after the postmortem was conducted at a local hospital, early on Friday.

Alandi observed bandh for funeral

Funerals of Pranav Bansode, Sumit Bharat Ahire, Pranav Ramdas Bansode, Kaivalya Satish Vasankar, and Tanmay Dattatray Wahile were performed at the crematorium in Alandi. All four were residents of Alandi.

Last rites of Rahveer Yuvraj Wahile and Soham Tukaram Bhandwalkar were performed at Kelagaon village, located about three kilometers from Alandi.

Yash Kiran Wankhede and Kaustubh Sandip Daundh were residents of Charholi Budruk. Wankhede’s funeral was held at his native place in Amravati, while Daundh was cremated at his homeland in Ahilyanagar district, police said.

Alandi, a well known religious place in Pune, observed a bandh on Friday to pay tribute to the eight youngsters who died by drowning.

Hundreds of villagers, including President of Alandi Municipal Council Prashant Kurhade, local MLA Baba Kale and others from social, political and religious sectors, attended the students’ funeral.

Police deployed outside Winners Academy

According to police, Winners Academy is a coaching center that has about 100 students mainly preparing for 11th and 12th along with other courses. The Academy, located in a building in Alandi, was closed on Friday, with police officials deployed outside its premises. Alandi police said they have not received any complaints yet against the Winners Academy.