Mumbai: Lifeguards posted at Aksa beach in Malad on Wednesday morning rescued three friends who were sitting on the edge of the rocks from drowning after high tide set in. The men panicked and started calling for help as water started rising.
The police said that Shaikh Atlaf Mohammed Iqbal (30), Sharfaraz Raheem Shaikh (24) and Suraj Ganesh Prajapati (25), all Malvani residents, arrived at the beach between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. when it was low tide. They headed towards the rocks between Dana Pani and Aksa beaches and sat on the edge of the rocks, facing the sea. Visitors are allowed to sit on the rocks only during low tide.
Swatej Kolambkar, one of the lifeguards at Aksa beach, said, “We first noticed them around 10:25 a.m. They were standing on the rocks and the water level had risen to eight feet.”
Nathuram Suryavanshi, another lifeguard, said they understood that the men needed immediate help. “Given that the water rising quickly, we decided to ride on a bike for 500 metres and then swim for 200 metres from Aksa beach,” Mr Suryavanshi said.
The lifeguards had two life jackets and a life buoy with them. They handed the life jackets to two of the men and told them hold on to the life buoy. Mr. Suryavanshi pulled them back to shore with a long rope attached to the life buoy. The third friend was then rescued in a similar way.
The lifeguards had also alerted the police control room before rescuing the three men.
