Body of third Aksa beach drowning victim found

MUMBAI: The body of Kalina resident Shekar Gaikwad (22) was washed ashore at Aksa Beach in Malad on Tuesday morning. His body was located by lifeguards at the beach, said a fire brigade official.
Gaikwad and two of his friends—Deepshikha Gupta (20) and Hemant Sharma—had drowned on Monday when they had gone to the beach for a swim. The Malwani police are, meanwhile, waiting to record the statement of a fourth friend, Monica Fernandez, who too was caught unawares by the high tide but rescued.She is undergoing treatment at Bhagwati Hospital.
The deceased and Fernandez had entered the waters in the afternoon and got trapped due to the rising water levels. It was too late by the time they realized that the water levels had risen. “Around 3.30pm, the four were 50-ft away from the shore. This made it difficult for them to swim back. Fernandez, Marol resident, survived because of the alert lifeguards,” said the police. Another friend of theirs, Rahul Vishwakarma (21), who had not entered the waters, had alerted the lifeguards soon after seeing the others drown. He had stayed at the shore as he had injured his leg.
“Fernandez can throw light on the exact details of the incident. There were several people in the water, but these four friends had ventured deep in to the sea. The bodies of Gupta, a Virar resident, and Sharma, a Kalina resident, were brought to the shore on Monday itself,” said deputy commissioner of police (Zone-11) Balsing Rajput.