This story is from June 3, 2018

Maharashtra: Five people from Mumbai drown in sea off Ratnagiri coast

Police said that the five were trapped in a whirlpool that was formed at the intersection of the sea and creek along the beach. The abnormal phenomenon even forced the rescue teams deployed here to stay away from venturing in to the sea for some time. Finally the bodies were washed ashore by the water current.
Maharashtra: Five people from Mumbai drown in sea off Ratnagiri coast
The group ventured into the treacherous sea even when it was cloudy with heavy thundering. (ANI/Twitter)
Key Highlights
  • All the deceased were from Mumbai's Borivili locality
  • The group had gone to Konkan two days ago and was at the rocky Aare-Ware beach on Sunday
RATNAGIRI: Five people of a group holidaying in Ratnagiri drowned off a beach on Sunday. All the five deceased, including 4 from a family, belonged to the Borivali’s IC colony.
A total of seven people, were on the beach, of them two did not venture into the sea, said officials.
The group had gone to Konkan two days ago and was at the rocky Aare-Ware beach on Sunday evening.

The deceased have been identified as Kenneth Masters (56), Monica Bento D’souza (44), Sanomi Bento D’souza (22), Rechar Bento D’souza (19) and Mathew Bento D’souza (18). The two survivors have been identified as Leena Kenneth Masters (52) and Rita D’souza (70). The D’souza’s and the Masters were family friends.
The group had gone to Devrukh in Ratnagiri and made a halt at Aare-Ware beach on their way to Ganpatipule on Sunday.
According to the local police, the group ventured into the treacherous sea even when it was cloudy with heavy thundering. The entire area has witnessed spells of rains since Saturday.
Police said that the five were trapped in a whirlpool that was formed at the intersection of the sea and creek along the beach. The abnormal phenomenon even forced the rescue teams deployed here to stay away from venturing in to the sea for some time. Finally the bodies were washed ashore by the water current.

Superintendent of police Pranaya Ashok said, “The family had a trip to the beach. They had gone for swimming around 5pm, Sunday. At the intersection of the creek and sea along the beach a whirlpool was formed and they were trapped in it. The sea was treacherous with wind and high tide and it was also thundering.”
On the rescue operation, Pranaya Ashok said, “Locals, police and other rescue team including boats were deployed. It was not advisable for rescuers to venture into the danger zone to start the rescue operation.”
The Ratnagiri district civil surgeon Dr P Deokar said, “The bodies have reached the civil hospital for postmortem. The police is doing the panchnama. We found no injuries on their bodies.”
Dr P Deokar added, “The relatives of the victims have told us that the family was planning to construct a house on a land purchased in Devrukh, Ratnagiri. They were going to Ganpatipule and stopped at Aare Ware beach. The locals advised them not to venture into the sea but they ignored the warning. Others, including their driver, and two women have been given accommodation here.”
Meanwhile, the quiet neighbourhood of IC Colony in Borivli West was jolted by the news of the five deaths. The priests of the IC Church, local residents and shopkeepers quickly put out a word on the WhatsApp groups of the locality seeking details and asking people to pray for the departed souls.
Naresh Gadve lives in the same Silver Stone building as Master Kenneth who died on Sunday.
"Our society secretary received a call from Kenneth's wife Leena informing her about the tragedy. Apparently the youngsters went into the water first. Then they suddenly lost their footing, and Kenneth went to save them. Sadly, he lost his life in the process."
Gadve knows the family since 14 years when he moved in to Silver Stone. He said, "The couple had no children. The youngsters who died were like their relatives."
The D’Souza family was staying on rent at Megha building's A-wing in IC colony.
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About the Author
Bhavika Jain

Bhavika Jain, senior correspondent with The Times of India. While her primary beat is the BMC, she also keep tab on stories relating to other beats like heritage, environment and health. When she is not scouting for news stories, she usually watch films or try out new places to eat.

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