3 bodies fished out, search on for fourth

MUMBAI: The Juhu police has registered a case of accidental death in the suspected drowning of four youth at Juhu beach’s “Silver Beach” stretch  on Thursday. Four of a group of five youth from D.N. Nagar, Andheri, were feared drowned at on Juhu beach at around 5pm on Thursday. The youth — none of whom knew how to swim — had waded deep into the sea to beat the heat, only to be swept off by a powerful wave.

A helicopter and boats of the Coast Guard and Navy were pressed into the search and rescue operation. The bodies of Fardeen Saudagar (17) and Shoaib Khan (17) were found on Friday. So far, three bodies including that of Nazeer Gazi (22) have been fished out of the sea. However, the search for the fourth body, belonging to Faisal Sheikh (17), is still underway. Only one of the five youth, Wasim Khan (22), was rescued.

A close relative of Fardeen said, “It was his 17th birthday on Thursday and the seven friends had gone out to celebrate his birthday on the beach, following which, a small surprise party had been organised for him. Tragically however, he was taken away on his birthday itself.”

An official from the Coast Guard rescue team said that the five boys had entered the water during high tide and that the search operation, too, had to be stopped due to rough weather and tide timings.

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