PURI: Three youths drowned in the sea off Chandrabhaga beach near the Eco-Retreat site, in two separate incidents on Sunday. Both the incidents were related to picnic parties in the area.
According to reports, a group of friends holding a picnic feast near the beach went to the sea to take bath at around 3 pm. Three of them were reportedly swept in by the strong waves. While two drowned, one was rescued in time by the friends and dragged to safety.
On being informed, fire personnel rushed to the spot and recovered the two bodies. The deceased have been identified as Arupananda Jena (24) and Rahul Senapati (23) from the nearby Jamtala village under the Konark police station limits. The rescued Shiv Kumar belongs to Uttar Pradesh. The bodies have been sent to the Charichhaka hospital for postmortem.
In another incident, one Pintu Pattnaik (20) of Pahala village in Cuttack district was washed away while bathing with his friends in the sea at the Eco-Retreat beach. Pintu, who worked at a car service centre in Bhubaneswar, was also partying with his group at the beach.
His friends immediately informed the police and locals. The fire services personnel retrieved the body and sent it to the Konark hospital, which referred it to the Puri headquarters hospital. His body will be handed over to the family members after postmortem.
With three lives lost in one afternoon, locals said the deaths occurred due to lack of warning for people and bathers against venturing into the sea during high tide. The sea had swelled dangerously and was filled will strong currents because of the tide. Without any inkling of the danger, the innocent youths went inside and met a watery grave, they said.
They also alleged that despite the fact that the beach near Eco-Retreat site has now become popular with visitors and picnickers, the administration has taken no step to deploy lifeguards or hoist warning signals to deter people from entering the sea during high tide or strong currents. The death has been caused due to the negligence of the administration, they stated.