A recreational outing turned into a devastating tragedy on Thursday when eight students from a Pune-based coaching institute drowned while swimming at Diveagar Beach in Maharashtra’s Raigad district.
The excursion, organized by Winners Academy—a private coaching institute in Alandi, Pune, serving 11th and 12th-grade students—consisted of 48 individuals, including 25 boys, 17 girls, and six faculty members. The group had arrived at Diveagar’s Dighi Sagari coast for a day-long tour.
According to local authorities, the tragic incident occurred when a group of students entered the water to swim. Unable to properly gauge the ocean depth and strong undercurrents, eight of the students were swept away by the sea.
As panic broke out among tourists and onlookers along the beach, local water sports operators rushed to assist. Bhau Maruti Salunkhe, owner of a local water sports company, alongside his team, plunged into the water to launch an immediate rescue operation before emergency services arrived.
Assistant Police Inspector Santosh Awati from the Dighi Sagari Borli Panchatan Police Station arrived shortly after with a police team. Supported by local residents and rescuers, officers managed to recover all eight bodies from the water. The victims were transported to the Primary Health Centre in Borli Panchatan, where they were pronounced dead.
Authorities have identified the deceased students as:
* **Tanmay Dattatray Vahile**
* **Sumit Bharat Ahire**
* **Pranav Ramdas Bansode**
* **Kaivalya Satish Wasankar**
* **Rajveer Yuvraj Vahile**
* **Yash Kiran Wankhede**
* **Soham Tukaram Bhandvalkar**
* **Kaustubh Sandeep Daund**
Local police have registered a case regarding the incident, and further investigations into the circumstances surrounding the trip and safety precautions are currently underway.