Five of Mumbai family drown in sea off Ratnagiri coast

They went for a swim in the creek at around 5pm and got caught in a whirlpool caused by the water from the sea rapidly entering the creek

Five members of a family on Sunday drowned in the sea off the coast of Ratnagiri, 330 kilometres from here, police said.

The beach is about 15 kilometres from Ganpatipule. (ANI Photo)

An official said that seven family members, residents of suburban Borivali in Mumbai, were on their way to Ganpatipule in Ratnagiri when they decided to make a stopover at Arey Ware beach.

The beach is about 15 kilometres from Ganpatipule.

“They went for a swim in the creek at around 5pm and got caught in a whirlpool caused by the water from the sea rapidly entering the creek,” he said.

While locals managed to save two of them, the others drowned, he added.

The police identified those who drowned as Keneth Masters(56), Monika D’souza(44), Sanomi D’souza(22), Ranchor D’souza(19) and Mathew D’souza(18).

Rita D’souza (70) and Lina Keneth Masters (52) were the two family members who were saved by the locals, he said.

“All the bodies have been retrieved. The two survivors are being taken care of by the police,” said Pranaya Ashok, Superintendent of Police, Ratnagiri.