MARGAO: Tragedy struck a group of youngsters who had gone for swimming at Colva beach on Friday morning when a 15-year-old local boy, studying in the 10th standard, drowned off the beach. The incident triggered an uproar after locals claimed that the lifeguards were conspicuously absent at the spot where the drowning occurred.
What infuriated the locals was that someone had to cycle his way towards the Betalbatim stretch of the beach in search of the lifeguard. The body of Velankino Pinto was recovered off Majorda beach on Friday evening and has since been preserved at the South Goa district hospital for a post-mortem examination.
The incident occurred when the four local boys, believed to be 10th-grade students, went for a swim without informing their parents that they were going to the beach.
The tragic mishap
Colva police station in-charge, PI Theron D’Costa, informed that all four boys ventured into the sea for swimming before a strong undercurrent pulled Velankino inside.
One of his friends reportedly tried to rescue him, but the undercurrent pulled the boy inside. The youngsters raised an alarm, but the locals did not find the lifeguard posted at the spot where the incident occurred.
Search efforts in vain
Local fishermen cast a net in the sea to trace the body of the deceased, but in vain. The lifeguards also tried to trace the body of the deceased, but in vain. A large number of locals were seen on the beach along with the police as they anxiously waited for the recovery of the body. It was only in the evening that the body was recovered at the Majorda beach.
The Colva police are investigating.
