'We could only watch helplessly'

It all happened in front of me, but by the time I could do anything the couple had already been washed away and all our efforts proved worthless.

It all happened in front of me, but by the time I could do anything the couple had already been washed away and all our efforts proved worthless. At 12.30 pm, when I reached the rocks behind Sea Rock Hotel in Bandstand, I saw three couples struggling in waist deep water. I told them to go on higher rocks; meanwhile I got help and contacted police. One of the couples agreed but the other two were stuck in water. By the time I got help and ropes, the water level had reached their necks and I could clearly see the couple desperately trying to save themselves while we watched helplessly.

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The boy was holding on to a rock and the girl was clinging to him to keep herself afloat, but they it was too late. When the police called the fire control department for rescue work, I heard them say that one of their vehicles had burst a tyre, which took them 20 minutes. If the fire officials had arrived on time, the couple would have been alive.

Bhiru Khokre is a journalist from Pune.