Tarannum Ansari falls into water while posing and clicking pictures on rocks at Bandra Bandstand
Mumbai : A college girl student who fell into the swirling Arabian Sea while allegedly clicking selfies here on Saturday was untraced as well as a youth who jumped into the water to save the her, police said. The incident occurred when three friends – Tarannum Ansari (18), Anjum Khan (19) and Masturi Wasim Ali Khan (19) went to the Bandstand in Bandra for a stroll.
The trio were posing for pictures on the rocks on Bandstand when Ansari’s leg slipped and she fell into the water. According to R Dhavale, senior inspector of Bandra police station, the girls were standing on a rock next to the fort close to the Bandra-Worli sea link. “They girls were clicking pictures and Tarannum who was closest to the edge lost her balance and slipped her foot and fell into the water. They were standing 50 metres away from the shore when water rose. They failed to notice the water rising and remained on the rock taking pictures,” he said.
After Tarannum fell, Anjum and Masturi too jumped in to save their friend but the rising water level thwarted their efforts. By then many passersby heard their screams and one of them was Ramesh Walunj (35) who instantly jumped into the water to save them. Walunj managed to save Anjum and Masturi but Tarannum had been swept further away by the tide and Walunj swam out to rescue her. But unfortunately the waves and high tides swept him away too. The three stayed in the same area of Bainganwadi in Govandi and were close friends. While Ansari was a student of SNDT College, Anjum studied in Mehata college in Chembur and Masturi a student in Rajiv Gandhi college in Vashi.
A rescue operation was launched immediately after the news reached the authorities but the rocks jutting out and the high tides slowed down the rescue efforts. The coast guard and the fire brigade initiated the search for Tarannum and Walunj but failed to find anything. Later in the afternoon, the coast guard launched an air search with the help of a helicopter to look for them. With no trace of both of them till late evening, rescuers suspect them to have drowned and their bodies swept deep into the sea. They hope the bodies will wash ashore by Sunday morning.
