A birthday celebration went horribly wrong for a group of three, when one of them was killed after being washed away. Incident occurred around 4 pm on Sunday; victim’s body was fished out more than an hour later
A birthday celebration at Marine Drive went horribly wrong for a group of three, when one of them was killed after being washed away. The incident occurred around 4 pm in the afternoon, during the high tide. The victim’s body was fished out more than an hour later.
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Fire brigade officials carry out rescue operations after the Chavan brothers were swept away by the huge tidal waves. Pic/PTI
Chetan Chavan (23) and his cousin Ratan (19) had gone to the spot to celebrate a common friend’s birthday. Despite being warned about the impending high tide, the trio sat on the rocks there.
The victim’s father at the hospital
A huge wave suddenly engulfed Chetan and Ratan. While Chetan fell on the rocks, Ratan was pulled inside the water and he drowned. Speaking to this reporter, Chetan said, “We should’ve listened to our parents.
They had told us about the high tide. We were sitting near Marine Drive when a huge wave came suddenly.” A police constable from Marine Drive police station played a major role in rescuing Chetan. Swapnil Khonde, who rescued him, told mid-day, “I wasn’t there at the time of the incident, but saw a huge crowd crying out about the fallen boys.
My colleague saw him (Chetan) struggling to stay above the surface. We first tried rescuing him using dupattas, but it didn’t work. Later, someone got a rope and we managed to rescue him.”
Chetan was rushed to Gokuldas Tejpal (GT) Hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries. Fire brigade officials later managed to fish out his cousin’s body. He, too, was taken to G T Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
A doctor from the state-run facility said, “Huge amounts of water and pebbles had accumulated in his lungs. There is no way they would’ve been swept away, had they been sitting on the parapet. They must have ventured onto the rocks and thrown off balance by the huge waves.” He further added that the victim had also been injured after being struck by the tetrapods.
Dead on arrival
When contacted, Dr D R Kulkarni, medical superintendent of G T Hospital, said, “He was brought to the hospital by his brother where he was declared dead on arrival. His relatives immediately arrived at the hospital, where the post-mortem is being conducted.” The family lives in Kalyan.
An officer from Marine Drive police station confirmed the incident saying, “A huge wave swept the boys away when they were sitting on the rocks. One of them constables saved one boy and the other died. We have filed an accidental death report.”
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