Three tourists, including a police constable and his brother, from Akola in Maharashtra drowned in the Arabian Sea at the famous Calangute beach on Monday morning, the police said.
“A group of 14 tourists from Akola arrived in Goa on Monday by train around four in the morning,” said Calangute police inspector Jivba Dalvi.
“Immediately after coming to Goa, all of them went to the Calangute beach, though there were specific signages put up along the shoreline advising people against swimming,” Dalvi said.
According to the witnesses, five of the tourists got swept away into the waters because of the strong currents. Of them, three drowned while two others managed to swim to the shore.
The three victims were later pulled out from the sea by locals present on the shore. They were rushed to a primary health centre at Candolim where they were declared dead.
The deceased were identified as Pritesh Lankeshwar Nanda Gawli (32), his brother Chetan Lankeshwar Nanda Gawli (27) and Ujwal Vakode, who was also part of the group, Dalvi said. Pritesh Gawli was a constable in the Maharashtra police.
The Goa government had last month issued an advisory asking tourists to refrain from swimming in sea waters along beaches for four months starting from June 1.
The state government has shut down the beaches for swimming and other water sports activities during the monsoon from June to August each year as a precautionary step. It also includes a 61-day fishing from June 1 to July 31.
A firm appointed by the Goa government to provide lifeguards at beaches had recently said that red flags will be put up at beaches in the state to warn people about dangers of wading or swimming in the sea during the monsoon.
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