Four teenagers feared dead at Arnala beach during high tide

Three of their friends – Sachin Malekar, Naman Mishra and Ankit Sharma - who were closer to the shore shouted out for help and were pulled to safety by the locals.

A trip to Rajodi beach in Vasai on Thursday turned tragic for seven teenagers, with four of them feared dead after being pulled into the sea during high tide.

Search operations underway to find the missing teens at Rajodi Beach in Vasai on Thursday. (HT PHOTO)

Sunny Palav ,15, Sachin Vishwakarma ,16, Rohan Jadhav, 17, and Chetan Kalap, 19, all Nalasopara residents, were playing in the sea

when the tide got strong around 2pm.

Witnesses said one of the boys started drowning, and to save him, the other three went deep into the water.

“They were playing in the sea when the tide got strong. They ventured into unsafe area and were pulled away from the shore,” said K Kolhe, the assistant inspector at Arnala police station.

Kolhe said search operations were underway.

Three of their friends — Sachin Malekar, Naman Mishra and Ankit Sharma — who were closer to the shore shouted out for help and were pulled to safety by the locals.

The police said the beach has a lifeguard and that the locals had warned the boys against going into the water during high tide.

Two teams from the fire brigade and a few local residents were looking for the boys at the time of going to press.