THREE MAHA STUDENTS DROWN

An outing at sea turned tragic for a group of 36 teenage students of K.L Ponda High School and Junior College, when three of their female companions lost their lives after the overloaded boat in which they were travelling capsized off the Dahanu coast around 11.30 am on Saturday.

According to the police, the mishap was reported five kilometres off Parnaka Beach, which is located a few meters away from the school in the Agar area of Dahanu in Palghar district.

The students, who are aged 16 to 17 years, reside in villages and hamlets in and around Dahanu.

Thirty-three students were rescued in a massive search and rescue operation that was launched by a combined team of Indian Coast Guard along with the police and maritime board personnel with active participation from local villagers and fishermen.

All were rushed to the nearby Cottage Hospital in Dahanu and discharged late in the evening.

“The deceased have been identified as Sonal Bhagwan Surti, Jhaanvi Harish Surti and Sanskriti Mahavanshi — all aged 17 years — residents of Ambedkar Nagar area of Masoli village in Dahanu Road,” said superintendent of police, Palghar, Manjunath Singe. While Sonal and Jhaanvi, who were first to be pulled out, died while undergoing treatment, Sanskriti was declared dead on arrival.