PH
Mumbai – Thirteen students drowned on Monday after they went swimming off a beach on India’s west coast, police said.
The tragedy happened at Murud beach, around 140km south of Mumbai, in the Raigad district of Maharashtra state, said assistant inspector of police Arvind Patil.
“A total of 155 students from Pune went to Murud main beach and some of them went swimming around 15:30 this afternoon,” he told AFP.
“Thirteen students are dead due to drowning. The victims were all aged between 19 and 23,” Patil said, adding that 10 women and three men died.
“Local people and police are engaged in rescue operations,” he added, saying it was not yet clear whether all the students had been accounted for.
Media reports said the victims were enrolled at Pune’s Abeda Inamdar College – an arts, science and commerce institute – and were in Murud for a picnic.
