3 boys drown off Aksa beach

Two teenagers and a 10-year-old boy drowned at Aksa beach where they had gone for a picnic on Wednesday morning. Others in their group were rescued by stall owners.

Two teenagers and a 10-year-old boy drowned at Aksa beach where they had gone for a picnic on Wednesday morning. Others in their group were rescued by stall owners.

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Police said the picnickers were residents of Hari Pehelwan chawl at Jogeshwari. The dead have been identified as Satish Benbansi (18), his brother Akash (10) and Mayur Patel (14).

Inspector Narayan Ugle from Malwani police station said: “The nine boys went to the beach on Wednesday at 7 am. While the rest of them ventured into the sea, Ashish Yadav (20), the oldest, stayed back to watch their belongings. At 11.30 am, when the tide came in, the three who had gone in deeper than the rest, started drowning.”

When the others raised an alarm, Yadav called out to nearby stall owners who rushed into the sea and rescued the others.

The survivors, Vishal Benbansi (12), Sunny Benbansi (13) — both brothers of the deceased Satish; Jai Patel (12) — deceased Mayur Patel’s brother; Guddu Yadav (12) and Suraj Yadav (14), were taken to Bhagwati hospital. The three deceased were also rushed there but were declared dead on arrival. The survivors have been discharged from hospital.

Of the deceased, Satish was a BMM student at Lords College, and Akash and Mayur were students at B L Ruia School and MVM School respectively.

Praful Mhatre (34), who owns a food stall at the beach, said they heard shouts for help and some of them plunged into the sea to help them.

Families speak

At Bhagwati Hospital, electrical contractor Hasmukh Patel, whose son Mayur died, said: “The boys had their holidays and had been planning a trip to Aksa for the last few days. We’d been discouraging them since we knew it was a dangerous place where such incidents are common. But they assured us that they knew how to swim and could take care of themselves. They told us about their plan on Wednesday morning, minutes before leaving.”

Ajay Yadav, whose three nephews survived, said: “It is tragic the three children died. All of them knew how to swim and had gone to Gorai and Aksa beaches on many occasions, but this time they went in too far.”