Ratnagiri: Three tourists from Kolhapur drowned in the sea at Ganpatipule, a town on the Konkan coast renowned for its beaches. The deceased have been identified as Kajal Machale, 18, Suman Machale, 23, and Umesh Bagde, 27.
The bodies of Kajal and Suman were retrieved at 7am while it was noon before Rahul's body was found. A resident of Hubbali, Rahul was employed by Central Railways.
According to authorities, on Friday, the trio, along with other members of the Machle Bagde families from Kasba Bawda, Kolhapur reached Ganpatipule. They went to the beach for a swim early on Saturday. However, they swam too far from the shore and found themselves struggling in deep waters.
Lifeguards at the beach, who saw them struggling, came to their rescue and saved Kisan Machale, Nirmala Machale, Pooja Bagde and Aishwarya Minekar, but the other three were pulled in by the current and efforts to rescue them were in vain.
It is extremely dangerous to venture in the sea at Ganpatipule and to caution the public, authorities have placed signboards with the names of those who have drowned here. But evidently, this has not proved enough of a deterrent
