MUMBAI :

 

EIGHT students on a picnic drowned in the Arabian Sea off the popular Diveagar beach in Maharashtra’s Raigad district on Thursday, with the bodies of all the victims being recovered, police said. These students of Class XI and XII were part of a group from private coaching class ‘Winners Academy’ based atAlandi in Pune district, they said. A police official said a group of 48 individuals, comprising 25 boys, 17 girls and six teachers, had gone for a picnic at the beach under Dighi coastal police station limits.

 

Eight students ventured into the sea and were swept away after misjudging the depth of the water and current, he added. Search and rescue teams rushed to the spot following an alert and recovered the bodies, he said. Police personnel and local authorities are present at the site to carry out further legal and administrative proceedings, the official said. Meanwhile, terming the incident as “heartbreaking”, Shiv Sena MLA Mahendra Dalvi on Thursday expressed disappointment over the “lack of adequate safety precautions” by the local administration.