Pune: Eight 16-year-old boys, students of Classes XI and XII at Winners Academy in Alandi, Pune, drowned in the sea off Diveagar Beach in Maharashtra's Raigad district on Thursday during a school picnic, police said.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Raju Sonawane said teachers and students from the academy had visited the beach and entered the sea.
"They ventured into the sea but failed to accurately gauge the water conditions, and the result was that eight students lost their lives," Sonawane told ANI.
The office of the Superintendent of Police said a total of 48 people, comprising 25 boys, 17 girls and six teachers, had visited Dighi Sagari, Diveagar Beach, for a picnic.
The eight boys were swept away after misjudging the depth of the water and current, a police official said. Search and rescue teams rushed to the spot following an alert and recovered the bodies.
The deceased were identified as Yash Kiran Wankhede, Soham Tukaram Bhandwalkar, Tanmay Dattatray Vahile, Kaustubh Sandeep Daund, Kaivalya Satish Wasankar, Rajveer Yuvraj Vahile, Pranav Ramdas Bansod and Sumit Bharat Ahire.
Maharashtra Minister Bharatshet Gogawale visited the hospital where the bodies were taken. He said they would be sent to the students' respective villages after post-mortem examinations.
Pimpri-Chinchwad ACP Yogesh Ranjankar said police were coordinating with the Raigad administration and were ready to assist with any legal action.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar spoke with the Raigad District Collector and directed the administration to monitor the rescue and relief operations and take necessary action. She also expressed condolences to the families.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis described the deaths as extremely tragic and painful, and said the local administration was coordinating the transportation of the bodies. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and NCP-SCP leader Supriya Sule also condoled the deaths.
Shiv Sena MLA Mahendra Dalvi, who represents the Alibag assembly constituency in Raigad district, blamed the local administration for the ‘lack of adequate safety precautions’.
"Such incidents keep happening there time and again, so the local administration must take safety precautions. Young schoolchildren may not be able to assess the risks posed by the sea, including high tide and the depth of water," he said.
Prashant Kurhade, chairman of the Alandi Municipal Council, said some of the students were from Alandi and others from neighbouring Kelgaon. He added that families had been contacted and some parents had travelled to Diveagar.
(With agency inputs from ANI & PTI)
