Eight Class 11-12 students drown at Maharashtra's Diveagar beach
Eight 16-year-old students from a private coaching institute in Pune district drowned in the Arabian Sea while on a picnic at Diveagar beach in Maharashtra's Raigad district on Thursday, police said. The bodies of all eight students were recovered.
The deceased were students of Classes XI and XII at Winners Academy, based in Alandi, police said.
A group of 48 people, including 25 boys, 17 girls and six teachers, had gone to the beach, which falls under the jurisdiction of Dighi coastal police station, a police official said.
The eight boys entered the sea but were swept away after apparently misjudging the depth of the water and the current, the official said.
Search and rescue teams were deployed after the incident was reported and recovered the bodies, police said.
The deceased were identified as Yash Kiran Wankhede, Soham Tukaram Bhandwalkar, Tanmay Dattatray Vahile, Kaustubh Sandeep Daund, Kaivalya Satish Wasankar, Rajveer Yuvraj Vahile, Pranav Ramdas Bansod and Sumit Bharat Ahire.
Diveagar, located around 170 km from Mumbai, is known for its beach and historic temples.
Shiv Sena MLA Mahendra Dalvi, who represents the Alibag assembly constituency in Raigad, described the incident as "heart-breaking" and raised concerns over safety arrangements at the beach.
Dalvi said local authorities should ensure adequate safety measures, noting that children may not be able to assess risks such as high tide and water depth.
Prashant Kurhade, chairman of the Alandi Municipal Council, said some of the students were from Alandi, while others were from nearby Kelgaon. He said officials were in contact with the families and some parents had already travelled to Diveagar.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis described the deaths as extremely tragic and painful in a post on X. He said the local administration was coordinating the transportation of the bodies and expressed condolences to the bereaved families.
Deputy Chief Ministers Sunetra Pawar and Eknath Shinde also expressed condolences.
Pintu Vahile, uncle of deceased student Tanmay Vahile, said Tanmay was from Lanadi and was studying in Class XI. He said Rajveer Vahile and Soham Bhandwalkar were from Kelgaon.
Tanmay had topped his school in Class X, while his father works at a private engineering college and is also a dairy farmer, Pintu said.
He added that the incident had shocked the families and that Tanmay's parents and other relatives had reached Diveagar.
Pintu said Rajveer's father is a farmer and the police patil of his village, while Soham also belonged to a farming family. (with inputs from PTI)
