26-year-old drowns off Aksa beach in Mumbai

A 26-year-old youth drowned off Dana Pani beach near Aksa in Malad on Sunday evening. Chetan Sharma met the fatal end when he and his friend Apurva Kharit entered deep waters. Visitors and relatives rescued 20-year-old Kharit.

According to the police, Sharma, a resident of Bangur Nagar in Goregaon, had gone for an outing with his family and friends around 4pm. Prakash Patil, senior inspector of Malwani police, said, "Sharma and Kharit went into deep waters and got pulled in due to low tide. The beach does not have lifeguards and their relatives were at the shore. So the two couldn't find anybody for help."

When they saw Sharma and Kharit were struggling to stay afloat, friends and visitors rushed to rescue the two. "While they were able to save Kharit and pull her out, Sharma couldn't be rescued immediately. After a few minutes of struggle, Sharma was brought to the shore and taken to a hospital. But he was declared dead before admission," added Patil.

After initial investigations, the Malwani police registered a case of accidental death and handed over Sharma's body to his relatives. Kharit's condition is stable, they said.

On April 27, a 12-year-old boy drowned off Dana Pani beach where he had gone for a picnic with four of his friends. The boy was a resident of Charkop.