More lifeguards could have saved lives: Witness

May 06, 2013 |

Age Correspondent

mumbai

One of the youngsters, Nilesh Mungekar, who looked on helplessly as three of his friends drowned to death on Sunday morning at Aksa beach, said that lives could have been saved had there been more lifeguards.
Nilesh was a regular with the group that visited the Aksa beach every Sunday to play cricket. “As usual, after playing cricket, they jumped into the water to beat the heat and freshen up before returning home. I stayed away as I don’t know how to swim. The moment I saw my brother Sandesh drowning, along with three others, I started screaming for help. I saw them drown and wanted to save them,” said Nilesh.
“Luckily, a life guard heard my screams and came running within 2 to 3 minutes. He jumped in and saved my brother. If there were more lifeguards at the time, others could have been saved too. Soon after my brother was brought out, we rushed him to Bhagwati Hospital and he is now out of danger,” added Nilesh. Former chief fire officer, Uday Tatkare, who died of cardiac arrest in 2011 had vehemently taken up the issue of beaches with inadequate number of lifeguards in the city with the BMC. From 2007- 2013, around 60 persons have died at Aksa beach.

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